Merced County coronavirus numbers continue to surge with 68 new cases
Merced County’s coronavirus infection count continued a steep climb Friday with 64 more cases reported, according to the county Public Health Department.
The county’s known positive cases since the start of the pandemic now stand at 1,272.
The total number of cases has increased by 230 in the past three days leading into the Fourth of July, including a record for one day of 85 on Tuesday. There have been 708 new cases reported in the past two weeks.
Current cases that have required hospitalization is 26, down one from Thursday. A total of 106 Merced County residents have been hospitalized since the first reported case in the county on March 22.
The number of deaths in Merced County due to COVID-19 remained at 11.
The positive case percentage rose to 8.3%. The rate is being dragged up by a consistently higher seven-day average, which the state uses as a metric to measure county coronavirus demographics.
On Thursday, Merced County Sheriff Vern Warmke released a statement urging residents to practice precautions during, and after, the upcoming Fourth of July weekend.
The Sheriff’s Office, county Public Health and county CEO’s office made the decision to preemptively shutter area parks to deter large gatherings and household mixing during the holiday weekend.
Lake Yosemite in Merced, Henderson Park in Snelling and Hagaman Park in Livingston will close to the public Friday through Sunday.
This story was originally published July 3, 2020 at 4:04 PM.
