No new Merced County COVID-19 deaths reported Tuesday, 41 new infections confirmed
The Merced County Department of Public Health on Tuesday reported 41 additional laboratory confirmed novel coronavirus cases, marking the highest single day increase since Sept. 16.
The new COVID-19 infections brought the county’s total caseload since the pandemic’s start to 9,572.
No further COVID-19 caused deaths were reported on Tuesday. The last known death of a Merced County resident due to the pandemic was confirmed on Friday, raising the total death count to 155.
Of all the known coronavirus cases in Merced County, 307 are presumed to currently be active on Tuesday — an increase of three active cases since Monday. The data point has fluctuated slightly above and below the 300 threshold in recent weeks.
Active cases are an estimate based on the total number of laboratory confirmed infections over the last two weeks.
Testing positivity, meaning the percentage of residents screened for COVID-19 during the past seven days who test positive, also rose marginally on Tuesday to 2.8%. Still, the percentage is far below county testing positivity in recent weeks, and positions Merced County well for more economic reopening.
Testing positivity is one of the data points examined by the state to determine how much of a county’s local economy can open under California’s pandemic road map rules.
Merced County currently resides in the second-strictest of four reopening tiers. The county’s Tuesday testing positivity of 2.8% falls within the next tier’s required range of 2-4.9%.
New daily cases per 100,000 residents, however, must still improve in order for Merced County to open more sectors of its economy. The next tier requires a new daily case range of 1-3.9 per 100,000 residents. Merced County’s new daily cases tallied 5 per 100,000 residents on Tuesday, according to the most recent state data.
Still, that’s an improvement from last week’s 7.4 daily cases per 100,000 Merced County residents.
Active hospitalizations of residents also improved on Tuesday. Three fewer patients were hospitalized due to severe COVID-19 cases, decreasing the current count to 22. Just five individuals are being cared for within Merced County, while the rest are looked after at outside facilities.
A total of 698 county residents have been hospitalized on account of COVID-19 to date.
Active coronavirus outbreaks remained unchanged on Tuesday. There are currently seven workplaces listed as having an outbreak, meaning the locations have not yet gone two weeks without a COVID-19 case being traced back to the facility.
This story was originally published October 27, 2020 at 4:50 PM.
