As omicron surges nationwide, what is the COVID-19 situation in Merced County?

While Merced County health officials can’t confirm whether the omicron variant has been detected in the county yet, COVID-19 cases remain relatively stable in the community and local hospitals.

According to the Merced County Public Health Department COVID-19 dashboard, the county started out the month of December totaling 73 new confirmed cases a day. While that number fluctuated quite a bit over the course of the month — hitting a high of 94 on Dec. 4 and a low of 23 on Dec. 14 — the latest numbers available showed 35 new cases as of Dec. 22.

Between Dec. 19 and Dec. 22, only 127 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed. That’s down significantly from last year’s total of 1,085 new cases during the same time frame.

The number of hospitalizations and intensive care unit admittances remained fairly consistent this month, with hospitalizations ranging from 21 to 29 each day. Regional intensive care unit capacity is relatively low compared to other places, at 15.7%. Local ICU admittances started at only nine on Dec. 1, but went up to 16 on Dec. 12. As of Dec. 21, only 12 ICU beds at local hospitals were full because of COVID-19.

Active hospitalizations stood at 18 as of Thursday, and 695 deaths were recorded since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020. However, only 44.4% of Merced County residents are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

The county estimates that there are 160 active pediatric cases of COVID-19, and there are 619 probably active cases in the county overall, according to the county’s COVID-19 dashboard.

Among local cities, Merced is leading the way in COVID-19 diagnoses, with 16,935 confirmed cases since March 2020, with the next highest case counts coming out of Los Banos, Atwater, Hilmar and Livingston. Active outbreaks in the county include only one business — Hilltop Ranch Logistics — and two government agencies, the CalTrans maintenance facility in Merced and the Merced Public Works Department.

Notably, several schools in the county are in active outbreak status, including Atwater High, Buhach Colony High, Delhi High, Delhi Middle, El Capitan High, Elim Elementary, Golden Valley High, Gustine High, Livingston High, McSwain Elementary, Merced High, Peggy Heller School, Planada Elementary, Sheehy Elementary, Westside Union Elementary and Yamato Colony Elementary.

Employees of the Merced County Public Health Department were either unreachable for comment or could not answer questions. Calls to Mercy Medical Center in Merced and Memorial Hospital in Los Banos were not immediately returned.

Tim Sheehan contributed to this report.