Merced County reports pandemic’s second-highest daily number of new local COVID cases
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COVID-19 cases in Merced County soared to the second highest daily count ever recorded during the two-year pandemic on Thursday, according to the Merced County Department of Public Health’s Friday data update.
A total of 392 laboratory infections were added to the county’s running COVID-19 case tally on Thursday. In sum, 49,005 local cases have been confirmed since the pandemic’s start.
The almost 400 cases recorded is topped only by the 674 cases confirmed on Dec. 23, 2020. However, that abrupt spike in new infections was attributed in part by County Public Health to the addition of old COVID-19 cases that had gone previously unreported.
The steep climb in new daily cases over the last week jolted the number of estimated active infections from 845 on Dec. 29 to more than double that number, with approximately 2,285 active infections reported as of Thursday.
Plus, Merced County’s COVID-19 positivity rate and new daily cases per 100,000 residents each more than doubled since Dec. 29. The local positivity rate ascended to 15.7% on Thursday from 7.5% since then. New daily cases rose to 38.4 per 100,000 residents, up from 17.8, during the same period.
Statewide, those metrics are even higher at 21.7% testing positivity and 124.5 new daily infections per 100,000, according to the CDPH’s Friday update.
California’s latest daily case rate marked a new record for the state, rising past the previous record of 112 cases per 100,000 set almost exactly one year earlier on Jan. 8, 2021. The statewide positivity rate set another all-time record as well.
The abrupt surge in COVID-19 cases throughout California, as the now dominant and highly transmissible omicron variant spreads, highlights the importance of practicing caution against COVID-19, including getting a vaccine or booster and wearing an effective mask indoors, according to the California Department of Public Health.
How hospitals are faring
No intensive care unit beds were available throughout either of the county’s two hospitals as of Thursday, the state reported on Friday.
Meanwhile, eight additional Merced County residents were hospitalized because of the virus between Wednesday and Thursday, raising the number of hospitalizations to 37. Another pandemic-caused death was reported as well, bringing local fatalities to 710 in total.
Although local and statewide COVID-19 hospitalizations have yet to set a new record, Thursday’s numbers reached the highest point since early February with 9,279 patients reported hospitalized throughout California after contracting the highly transmissible virus.
The omicron variant is at least two to four times more transmissible than the previously dominant delta variant. CDPH data shows that omicron made up 76% of sequenced cases for the week ending Dec. 26. On Dec. 12, it was 4%.
Research from various parts of the world appears to show that omicron sends a lower proportion of infected people to hospitals with severe illness compared to delta.
But because the omicron variant is so wildly infectious, health officials warn that it still poses a serious risk to health care systems -- especially as many individuals throughout parts of California, like Merced County, remain unvaccinated against COVID-19.
Merced County inched to a little more than 45% of the local population fully vaccinated as of Thursday. The statewide average was reported much higher at 80% of the population vaccinated against COVID-19.
Cases, hospitalizations and deaths are largely occurring among unvaccinated populations, according to CDPH.
Unvaccinated individuals are 4 times more likely to get COVID-19 than fully vaccinated people, 10 times more likely to be hospitalized and almost 17 times more likely to die. Real-world evidence continues to show that the vaccine is preventing severe illness, hospitalization and death, according to CDPH.
“With the combination of colder weather keeping people indoors, the waning of vaccine and natural immunity, and more mingling among non-household members, public health officials urge Californians to get vaccinated and boosted as soon as possible,” the state’s Friday update said.
COVID-19 testing and vaccination information is available on the Merced County Department of Public Health’s website.
The Sacramento Bee’s Michael McGough contributed to this story.
This story was originally published January 7, 2022 at 6:44 PM.
