Merced County reports 17 new coronavirus cases — pandemic’s highest daily jump locally
Merced County reported 17 new coronavirus cases Friday — the largest jump in known infections since the pandemic began.
The new cases bring the county’s total coronavirus caseload to 251 total reported infections since the pandemic began. Merced County’s first infection was reported March 22.
Of the total cases, 98 are active, 147 individuals have recovered from the disease and six have died. The total number of Merced County residents having ever been hospitalized due to COVID-19 is 38.
Testing capacity increased in the county recently with the opening of a state-contracted site at the Merced County Fairgrounds May 4. The site has the capacity to test at least 100 individuals a day.
County Public Health officials said last week that the site has met logistical issues and a slow test result turnaround time, leading to a backlog of pending results.
The most recent COVID-19 related deaths were reported a week ago, when two COVID-19 related fatalities were confirmed. An additional death was reported earlier in the week, tripling the number of Merced County fatalities due to the pandemic.
Nine of the county’s new coronavirus infections are City of Merced residents. The city rose from 84 to 93 confirmed cases Friday. Los Banos claims the second highest at 54 residents having been ill.
Merced County typically averages three to six new known coronavirus cases each day, County Public Health officials have reported.
The higher-than-average increase in cases Friday comes the same week that the county was approved by the state to reopen sectors of its local economy faster than the rest of the state — as long epidemiological parameters remain stable.
If the county’s coronavirus landscape changes drastically, openings could be rolled back, Public Health officials say.
A total of 5,293 COVID-19 tests have been performed in Merced County through the commercial and public health systems. Of those, 4,970 are negative, 251 are positive and 72 are pending.
In California as of Friday, there are 88,538 confirmed coronavirus infections and 3,604 deaths.
This story was originally published May 22, 2020 at 4:49 PM.
