Merced County reports 3 new COVID-19 deaths, total fatalities since start of pandemic 266
While the nation watched protests against President Donald Trump’s November election loss devolve into violent riots at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, the COVID-19 pandemic still raged on.
Three more lost lives were added to the consistently rising COVID-19 death count on Wednesday. Since the pandemic’s start, 266 Merced County residents have died from complications caused by the highly infectious virus.
All three of the deaths were men, age 65 or older, with underlying health conditions prior to death, according to County Public Health.
County Public Health also reported 141 new novel coronavirus cases on Wednesday. The new laboratory confirmed infections raised the county’s total caseload to 20,915.
Crucial metrics used by the state to assign counties into business reopening tiers also worsened in Merced County.
Testing positivity, indicating the percentage of residents screened for COVID-19 during the last seven days who test positive, rose significantly to 14.4% from 13.2%. The metric must be reduced to 8% or fewer before more Merced County businesses can open their doors.
New daily positive cases per 100,000 residents over a seven-day average also increased to 59.1 from 56.1. Daily cases will have to be brought down to seven or less for further business reopenings to occur.
As the concerning rate of COVID-19 transmission across California fails to be brought under significant control, hospital resources remain strained.
Both the San Joaquin Valley (which includes Merced County) and Southern California regions reported 0% intensive care unit capacity on Wednesday.
The most recent state-provided data showed Merced County had one fewer ICU bed available on Tuesday. Three of the county’s 24 total ICU beds were free. Sixteen of the occupied beds were being used by COVID-19 patients, according to the data.
More recent County Public Health data reported that at 53, one additional COVID-19 patient was actively hospitalized in the county on Wednesday compared to Tuesday.
One bright spot in local COVID-19 data was the notable reduction in active cases, which dropped by 533 to 3,130.
Cases are deemed active if they were laboratory confirmed within the prior 14 days. The drastic drop on Tuesday correlates with the county’s largest ever single-day case increase two weeks ago on Dec. 23, when 674 new positive cases were reported.
While the decrease is good news, active infections are a rough estimate of the true number.
Active COVID-19 outbreaks have also improved slightly in recent days, as new workplace outbreaks are surpassed by the number of locations struck from the list.
Two fewer facilities were reported as having outbreaks on Wednesday, bringing the total to 62.
Only the Dutch Bros. Coffee in Los Banos was added to the active outbreak list on Wednesday. Frank Sparks Elementary School, Winfield Elementary and Marie Green Psychiatric Facility were each cleared from outbreak status.
This story was originally published January 6, 2021 at 5:50 PM.
