Merced County reports 12th death related to coronavirus, 79 new infections
The Merced County Public Health Department on Wednesday reported its latest coronavirus-related death, bringing the total number of local COVID-19 fatalities to 12.
Merced County’s first coronavirus-related death was reported on April 5.
The county’s latest death was a woman over the age of 65 with underlying health conditions, according to Amalia Madrigal-Hernandez, public information officer for the Merced County Department of Public Health.
The department reported 79 new infections Wednesday. The county’s first coronavirus infection was reported March 22. Since then, a total of 1,702 Merced County residents have tested positive for the virus.
According to health officials, it is estimated that 961 of those cases are actively infected. Active cases are defined by County Public Health as those cases confirmed within the last two weeks.
Officials have said due to the rapid case increase, they have suspended active case management and are no longer able to clear individual cases or accurately track recoveries. The “probable active” case count is an estimate.
The number of people actively hospitalized due to the virus increased from 30 on Tuesday to 34 on Wednesday, according to the Public Health Department. A total of 135 Merced County residents have been hospitalized since the pandemic’s start.
Of individuals tested locally, 9.79% have tested positive.
As of July 7, there have been 17, 136 tests performed in Merced County with 15,242 residents testing negative, 1,623 testing positive and 271 tests still pending.
In California, there have 282, 297 confirmed cases 6,564 deaths.
Around the Valley:
Fresno County: Fresno County passed 7,000 positive cases of the coronavirus on Wednesday after health officials reported 357 new cases and three new deaths, according to the Fresno Bee
The county has seen 84 fatal cases of the 7,281 positive cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic hit the region in March.
Tulare County: Tulare County added nine deaths to total 148 since the pandemic reached the region. The county on Wednesday also reached 5,298 cases, which is 123 more than the previous day.
Mariposa County: Health officials said Wednesday there were no changes to the 31 cases and single death to date.
Madera County: Tallied eight deaths through Wednesday, which is one more than the previous day. The county added 73 cases, which now totals 857 since the beginning of the pandemic.
Stanislaus County: Stanislaus County deaths remained at 45 as of Wednesday. A total of 2,889 county residents have tested positive since the start of the pandemic, with 2,425 recoveries, according to the county Health Services Agency.
Kings County’s report for Wednesday is still to come.
This story was originally published July 8, 2020 at 4:56 PM.
