Merced County confirms 258 new cases over three days, total caseload surpasses 1,500
Merced County Department of Public Health officials on Monday said 258 new coronavirus infections have been reported locally since Friday, bringing the total number of cases reported since March 22 to 1,530.
Over the weekend the county added no new coronavirus-related deaths, and its total remains at 11 dead. It’s estimated that 869 people locally are actively infected, based on the number of positive tests in the last two weeks.
According to Amalia Madrigal-Hernandez, Department of Public Health division manager and public information officer, of the 258 new cases, 100 were confirmed Saturday, 36 on Sunday and 122 on Monday.
Thus far, of those individual who have been tested locally, 9.2% have been positive, up from the previously reported 8.3%.
A total of 126 Merced County residents have been hospitalized since March 22.
As of Monday, there have been 255,252 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 6,337 deaths in the state of California.
Elsewhere in the Valley
Including Friday, the start of the holiday weekend, more than 1,900 new COVID-19 infections were confirmed in the six-county central San Joaquin Valley region.
Fresno County: 489 new cases Monday, 6,599 to date; one new death, 78 to date; 5,120 active cases; 1,401 recovered cases. As of Sunday, 163 patients were hospitalized with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19.
Kings County: 44 new cases on Monday, 2,717 to date; four new deaths, 37 to date; 1,038 active cases, 1,642 recovered. Kings County’s totals include 1,148 cases associated with state prisons in the county.
Madera County: 135 new cases, 713 to date; two new deaths, seven to date; no update on active or recovered cases; 21 people hospitalized as of Sunday.
Stanislaus County: 2,760 positive cases reported since the start of the pandemic, an increase of 100 since Sunday. A total of 45 people have died, 2,287 recovered.
Mariposa County: No new cases Monday, 31 to date; no new deaths, one to date; 12 active cases, 18 recovered cases. One person was hospitalized, the county reported.
Tulare County: 320 new cases Monday, 4,947 to date; no new deaths, 136 to date; 1,488 active cases, 3,323 recovered cases; 80 people hospitalized as of Sunday.
Madera County on state list
Madera County has joined Fresno, Kings, Merced and Tulare counties on the state Department of Public Health’s monitoring list. An “elevated disease transmission” of more than 100 new cases for every 100,000 residents over a 14-day period. Monday was the third day of being on the state’s list, which triggers a three-week closure of bars, indoor restaurant operations and indoor entertainment venues such as movie theaters, museums and cardrooms.
In addition to the high transmission rate of new cases, the county has exceeded the threshold of 8% positive results from coronavirus testing. As of Monday, Madera County reported that 11.1% of its coronavirus tests were coming back as positive over the past seven days.
This story was originally published July 6, 2020 at 6:22 PM.