Coronavirus reported at Atwater nursing, rehab center. No new Merced County deaths reported
No further deaths of Merced County residents due to the novel coronavirus were confirmed on Wednesday, according to the Merced County Department of Public Health.
To date, the virus has claimed 140 lives locally since the beginning of the pandemic.
County Public Health did report on Wednesday the addition of 27 new laboratory confirmed novel coronavirus cases.
The new cases raised the total number of COVID-19 infected individuals since the pandemic started to 8,828.
Active coronavirus outbreaks in Merced County also increased by one on Wednesday. With the new addition of Anberry Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Atwater, a total of 11 facilities are currently listed as in active outbreak status.
Anberry Nursing and Rehabilitation Center is a 99-bed facility that oversees long-term patient health care and short-term rehabilitation, according to its website. The center could not be immediately reached for comment.
Outbreaks are defined by County Public Health as three or more unrelated, laboratory confirmed COVID-19 cases linked to a workplace facility within 14 days. Just one case, however, constitutes an outbreak at a skilled nursing facility.
Outbreaks are closed when there are no additional known cases at the facility for a two weeks.
More on coronavirus locally
Coronavirus cases presumed to currently be active remained at 409 on Wednesday. The active case count is an estimate based off of the number of residents screened for COVID-19 during the last two weeks whose results return positive.
The number of Merced County residents hospitalized on account of severe COVID-19 cases fell noticeably on Wednesday to 37, down from 54 the prior day.
Only eight of those patients are hospitalized locally, while the majority are looked after at facilities outside of Merced County.
The tally of residents ever hospitalized due to COVID-19 during the pandemic rose by one patient, an increase notably lower than recent weeks.
Also on the decline is the percentage of residents screened for COVID-19 over the last week whose results returned positive. Testing positivity fell to 4.4% on Wednesday.
Of the 53,423 total Merced County residents tested for coronavirus since the pandemic’s beginning, 16.88% have received a positive result.
This story was originally published September 23, 2020 at 5:46 PM.
