Coronavirus: New Merced County cases near record highs; hospitalizations, outbreaks up
For the first time this week, no additional deaths of Merced County residents due to the novel coronavirus were reported by County Public Health.
A total of 175 known fatalities have been tied to the virus locally.
But across the board, other Merced County COVID-19 data continued to grow increasingly grave on Thursday.
Active hospitalizations of county residents with severe COVID-19 cases bounded up by 11 patients to 49. Hospitalizations of county residents have not been so high since Sept. 22.
Of all the residents hospitalized, 25 are being cared for within the county.
In-county hospitalizations until Thursday had typically accounted for a minority of overall hospitalizations. Now, they make up slightly more than half. Keeping hospitalizations within the county low is crucial to prevent overwhelming local healthcare capacity.
The total number of residents ever hospitalized due to COVID-19 rose to 755 on Thursday — also an increase of 11.
Active coronavirus outbreaks increased by two new locations with the addition of Cen Cal Spirit Elite, a Merced cheer team, and In-Shape Health Club’s Yosemite Avenue location in Merced. There are now 22 known active outbreaks within Merced County.
New laboratory confirmed cases since Wednesday leaped to 135 — the highest single-day increase since Aug. 13.
Until November, new daily cases in Merced County throughout most of September and October had often tallied fewer than 50. That number jumped up during November, and is now approaching the all-time highs seen in July and August.
A total of 10,884 positive cases have been confirmed in Merced County to date.
Thursday’s new cases boosted the number of infections presumed to be active to 968 from 869 on Wednesday. Active cases haven’t been higher since Aug. 31.
Active cases are estimated via the number of laboratory confirmed positive cases during the past two weeks.
Along with positive tests rising, so too is the percentage of positive tests compared to all tests performed during the past week. The county’s testing positivity on Thursday increased to 6.5% from 6.2%.
Purple tier
Merced County’s worsening COVID-19 metrics landed it, along with a majority of California counties, in the strictest of the four reopening tiers on Monday. Nonessential businesses like restaurants were given 24 hours to shift back into outdoor-only operations.
Counties in this stringent tier, labeled “purple” and considered to have “substantial” risk of COVID-19 transmission, faced another tide of restrictions on Thursday. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew will start nightly beginning Saturday.
State officials are calling the curfew a limited stay-at-home order. It will cover only nonessential activities. Tasks like going outside to walk a dog, pick up prescriptions at the pharmacy or get takeout from restaurants is still permitted.
But nonessential businesses and activities, like outdoor dining at restaurants, will have to cease at 10 p.m. The curfew is in effect for purple tier counties through Dec. 21.
