Merced County COVID-19 hospitalizations continue week’s trend of two more patients daily
Sixteen more Merced County residents were reported Thursday to have contracted the coronavirus, according to the county Department of Public Health.
The new cases increased the county total of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 infections to 9,302 since the beginning of the pandemic.
Active hospitalizations of Merced County residents due to more serious cases of virus-related complications rose by two, bringing the total to 36, with 11 patients being cared for locally. The remaining majority are hospitalized outside of the county.
The number of active hospitalizations has risen by two each day this week, according to county Public Health reports. Twelve fewer patients were hospitalized one week ago.
Residents ever hospitalized on account of the novel coronavirus, however, remained stable at 696.
The county’s testing positivity rate rose Thursday as well, but only marginally. The data point, which shows the percentage of residents screened for COVID-19 within the past week whose results returned positive, shifted from 3.4% to 3.5%.
A lower testing positivity percentage is one of two factors that permits counties to further reopen sectors of the local economy under the statewide reopening plan’s rules.
Merced County is currently subject to the second most stringent guidelines due to its local COVID-19 data. However, local data recently has consistently indicated mostly positive signs.
For the second day in a row Thursday, no additional pandemic-related deaths were reported by the county.
Two local deaths have occurred due to COVID-19 within the past week, notably lower than typical during preceding weeks.
Coronavirus cases presumed active again declined, by 10, to 283. The active case count is an estimate based on the number of new laboratory confirmed infections within the past two weeks.
Local coronavirus outbreaks held steady. There are 10 known outbreaks in the county.
An outbreak is defined as three or more known COVID-19 cases traced to a workplace facility within two weeks. Just one positive case constitutes an outbreak at a skilled nursing facility, on account of the high-risk setting.
Outbreaks are cleared from the list when there are no new infections linked to the facility for two weeks.
To date, 16% of the 58,996 total Merced County residents screened for COVID-19 have tested positive.
Statewide, the pandemic has claimed 16,757 lives and infected 858,401 people.
