Estimated active Merced County coronavirus cases dip below 300 for first time since June
Four additional Merced County residents have died due to the novel coronavirus since Friday, when the Merced County Department of Public Health last provided an update.
The four new fatalities increased the total number of pandemic-related deaths to 148 as of Monday. The Merced County Department of Public Health made an adjustment to the death count due to one previously reported death not being a Merced County resident.
All four of the most recently deceased individuals were female, according to County Public Health. Two were age 50-64 and two were 65-years-old or older. Whether any of the individuals had underlying health conditions prior to their deaths is unknown.
Since Friday 48 more COVID-19 tests have returned positive. New COVID-19 infections over the weekend numbered 19 on Saturday, 14 on Sunday and 15 on Monday.
The new cases raised the county’s running tally since the beginning of the pandemic to 9,081. Of those total cases, however, only 299 are presumed to be currently active. Monday marked the first day that the estimated active case count dipped below 300 since mid June.
Active cases are formulated based off of the total number of laboratory confirmed positive test results within the last two weeks.
Other improving coronavirus data also included the number of residents currently hospitalized due to severe cases of the virus. Three fewer patients are hospitalized since Friday, decreasing hospitalizations to 34. Just five of those patients are being cared for within Merced County.
The number of Merced County residents ever hospitalized on account of COVID-19 remained stable at 690 on Monday.
Active COVID-19 outbreaks remained unchanged as well. There are currently 10 workplace outbreaks within Merced County. Outbreaks are cleared from the list when no new laboratory confirmed coronavirus cases are tied to the location for two straight weeks.
One important data point that shifted in the opposite direction than preferred on Monday, however, was the county’s testing positivity percentage. The percentage must remain low for the local economy to reopen under the state’s plan for nonessential businesses.
Testing positivity shows the percentage of county residents screened for the virus during the last week who test positive. On Monday, it increased to 3.9% from 3.6% on Friday.
Merced County is nearly one full week into a 14 day period that will determine whether it is permitted to move out of the strictest of state-mandated business closures. Testing positivity, as well as the number of new daily cases per 100,000 residents, must stay below the state-defined maximums in order for more nonessential businesses to reopen.
Still, 3.9% testing positivity is well within the data range allowed for Merced County to reopen a week from Tuesday. The state-defined maximum for advancing out of the most stringent of business closures is 8%.
The state will release official number on testing positivity and new daily cases per capita on Tuesday, which will provide a clearer view into the county’s odds of reopening the following Tuesday.
This story was originally published October 5, 2020 at 5:04 PM.
