Merced County COVID-19 deaths for residents total 99, hospitalizations inch downward
Total deaths of Merced County residents linked to the novel coronavirus are rapidly approaching triple digits, as the two new fatalities confirmed by County Public Health on Thursday raised the death toll to 99.
One of the most recently deceased residents was a woman and the other was a man. One was between age 50-64 and the other was 65-years-old or older. While one of the deceased individuals did have underlying health conditions prior to their death, the health status of the other is unknown, according to County Public Health.
Fatalities caused by COVID-19 have been reported in Merced County every day this week. If the deadly trend continues, fatalities will likely reach triple digits before the end of the week.
Total COVID-19 cases rose by 105 on Thursday, bringing the county’s tally since the pandemic started to 7,334. Infections presumed active, meaning they were laboratory confirmed within the last 14 days, rose to 2,482.
Current hospitalizations, however, fell to 76. Of those, 32 Merced County residents with COVID-19 infections severe enough to mandate hospitalization are being cared for at facilities within the county.
Merced County’s case positivity, meaning the percentage of residents screened for coronavirus in the last seven days who test positive, remained at 21.5% Thursday. The overall positive case percentage is 19.45% with 37,791 tests conducted since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, according to County Public Health.
Active workplace COVID-19 outbreaks in Merced County currently number 26.
Outbreaks are defined as three or more unrelated, laboratory-confirmed cases linked to a single location within a 14 day period. Just one positive case qualifies as an outbreak at a skilled nursing facility, on account of the high-risk environment.
Such high-risk settings with active outbreaks include Fransiscan, Hy-Lond Health Care and Merced Nursing and Rehab, according to County Public Health.
A complete list of known local outbreaks is available on the Merced County COVID-19 statistics dashboard on its website.
Health officials continue to urge the public to wear a cloth face covering, wash hands regularly and avoid close contact within six feet of non-household members to curb the spread of the highly contagious novel coronavirus.
COVID-19 numbers around the Valley
Tulare County surpassed 13,000 cases with 186 patients testing positive. The total now stands at 13,022. No new deaths were reported, keeping the total to 208. A total of 11,782 patients have recovered.
Stanislaus County has reported 223 deaths — an increase of 20 compared to the prior day. The county has reporter 13,084 positive cases since the pandemic, with 339 new cases reported Thursday. There have been 11,825 recoveries.
Fresno County state health officials reported Thursday 369 new positive patients in Fresno County to push the overall total to 22,167 of the coronavirus since the pandemic started in March.
Madera County reported two new deaths to bring the tally to 49. The county added 42 new cases, bringing the number up to 3,278.
Mariposa County reported early Thursday that four new cases put the overall number to 69. The county has two deaths since the pandemic began.
Kings County will likely update its totals Thursday evening. Through Wednesday, the county reported a new death and 62 new cases to reach 68 total deaths and 5,631 cases.
