Active coronavirus hospitalizations decrease in Merced County for first time this week
Twelve more Merced County residents have contracted the novel coronavirus but the number of patients needing hospital care declined, the county Department of Public Health reported Friday.
A total of 9,314 residents have tested positive for the virus since the first known COVID-19 case was laboratory confirmed.
Of all the statistics reported by county Public Health, the data point that most notably shifted in the worse direction Friday was the county’s testing positivity rate.
The percentage is one of two criteria looked at by the state to determine how much of a county’s economy can reopen. A lower percentage means counties are permitted to open more nonessential businesses.
Merced County’s testing positivity rose from 3.5% on Thursday to 3.9% on Friday.
Still, Merced County is well within the threshold rate for it to remain within its current reopening tier.
Of the four opening tiers defined by the state, Merced County is in the second most stringent. Recently, the county’s COVID-19 data has generally indicated that it is moving toward a less restrictive tier.
More on latest coronavirus numbers
No further pandemic-related deaths of Merced County residents were reported for the third consecutive day this week. Two fatalities have been confirmed since the previous Friday.
Although the total number of coronavirus cases continues to rise, the active case count is moving in the opposite direction. Cases presumed active decreased Friday to 281.
Cases are considered to be active if they were laboratory confirmed during the past two weeks. The tally is an estimate.
Another positive indicator Friday was that for the first time this week, active hospitalizations of county residents due to severe COVID-19 cases decreased. Five patients were able to leave the hospital, decreasing active hospitalizations to 31.
Only nine of those patients are being cared for at facilities within the county. The majority are looked after at outside hospitals.
Up until Friday, current hospitalizations had increased steadily by two patients each day.
Merced County’s total patients having ever been hospitalized on account of the virus remained at 696.
Active COVID-19 outbreaks held steady as well. Ten workplaces are considered to have active outbreaks, meaning the facilities have not yet gone two consecutive weeks without a new COVID-19 case being traced back to the location.
Outbreaks are defined as three or more laboratory confirmed infections linked to a workplace within two weeks. The exception is skilled nursing facilities, where one case constitutes an outbreak given the high-risk setting.
To date, 59,115 county residents have been screened for COVID-19 and 15.99% have tested positive.
There are 861,476 confirmed coronavirus cases and 16,830 deaths statewide as of Friday.
This story was originally published October 16, 2020 at 5:28 PM.
