Merced County ranked 9th in state for COVID-19 deaths, 366 new infections reported
Coronavirus cases continue to surge in Merced County, as 366 new cases of residents infected with the virus were reported Tuesday, according to the Merced County Public Health Department.
Local cases reported since the beginning of the pandemic surpassed 6,000, with 6,102 laboratory cases confirmed since March 22.
The most recent numbers come as the California Department of Public Health asserts that it has fixed problems with its case-reporting database and is catching up to a backlog of cases that had been underreported for days.
Four new deaths reported on Tuesday, which brings the local death count to 74.
Merced is ranked ninth among California’s 58 counties in deaths per 100,000 people, according to data from local counties and the California Department of Health.
Merced County’s population is 283,521 residents, for a rate of 26.1 deaths per 100,000 population.
Of the four new reported deaths, three were men and one was a woman. Three of the dead were 65 years old or older and one was between the ages of 50 and 64. Two of the people had underlying health conditions and it was unknown whether the other two had underlying health conditions.
There are 88 people from Merced County currently hospitalized and 382 total people who have had to be hospitalized total.
There are 2,339 people who are considered active with the virus in the county. In California, there are 574,063 total cases and 10,471 total deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.
Distance learning beginning Wednesday
The increased numbers are a big reason kids will be beginning the school year from home through distance learning.
Wednesday marks the first day of school for many schools in Merced County, including schools in the Merced City School District.. Fourteen of the 20 school districts in Merced County will start school this week.
The schools will be starting the year with distance learning after Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier this year mandated that schools in counties that appear on the state’s monitoring list were prohibited to open the school year with in-person classes.
The Merced Union High School district pushed back its start date to Aug. 19 to give teachers extra time to prepare for the distance learning.
At least one Merced County school was hoping to open the school year with in-person classes, but recently changed its plans.
Stone Ridge Christian, a small private school in Merced that has classes kindergarten through high school at two different locations, announced it is delaying the start of school in a letter that was sent to parents.
“After much prayer and conversation about the best decision for the short and long-term health of the school SRC is delaying the first day of school,” Head of School Mike Henjum stated in the letter.
“It also gives those with a voice a chance to continue to share statistics and facts with decision makers that should allow us to open with acceptable safety precautions.”
In the letter, Henjum pointed out the decision to delay the start of school was made after an official notice from the Merced County Department of Public Health, stating that opening school would be a violation of a California Department of Public Health order.
The school was also contacted by local law enforcement and it received advice from multiple attorneys, according to the letter.
This story was originally published August 11, 2020 at 7:08 PM.
