Big leap in COVID-19 infections means Fresno, Valley hospitals treating more patients
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New cases of COVID-19 continue an upward march in Fresno County, and hospitals are seeing a significant uptick in the number of sick people being admitted for inpatient treatment of the virus.
Less than two weeks ago, interim county health officer Dr. Rais Vohra warned that doctors and hospitals should “brace” for an increase in cases and patients amid indications that the number of infections were trending upward.
That seems to be bearing out as a Tuesday update by county and state health officials reflected more than 1,100 new cases, compared to fewer than 1,600 cases for the entire prior week.
Since the week ending April 23, when fewer than 300 new infections were confirmed, Fresno County has experienced six consecutive weeks of rising cases. The April 23 tally of 296 cases was the fewest of any week so far this year, but the 1,593 cases reported last week was more than five times that volume.
Fresno County hospitals have also experienced a 76.5% increase in patients being treated for laboratory-confirmed cases of coronavirus. over the past two weeks. Hospitals were caring for 83 inpatient cases on Tuesday, compared to 47 two weeks earlier.
Valleywide, the past two weeks have brought hospitals a 55% increase in confirmed COVID-19 cases.
The following charts reflect the surges and lulls in cases, deaths and hospitalizations over the past 26 months of the COVID-19 pandemic years in Fresno County and the central San Joaquin Valley.
This story was originally published June 2, 2022 at 11:43 AM with the headline "Big leap in COVID-19 infections means Fresno, Valley hospitals treating more patients."
