Seven new COVID-19 related deaths in Merced County, 724 new cases since Friday

Merced County health officials on Monday reported 724 new cases of residents infected with the novel coronavirus and seven new deaths.

That brings the total deaths in Merced County to 70, since the start of the pandemic. According to county health officials, one previously recorded death has been reclassified since Friday.

Of the seven recently recorded deaths, four were male and three were female. Four of the dead are said to be age 65 or older, with two between ages of 50-64 and one between the ages of 35-49, according to a county news release.

Health officials said five of the deaths were residents who had underlying health conditions and the other two are unknown.

Monday’s report was the latest coronavirus data the county has reported since Friday. Of the latest cases, 234 were recorded Saturday, 203 on Sunday and 287 on Monday.

There have been 5,736 laboratory confirmed cases in Merced County, since the first positive case was reported on March 22.

The actual number of cases could even higher, as reporting issues continue to plague the state’s CalREDIE (California Reportable Disease Information Exchange) system that compiles data from reporting labs on test results for COVID-19. The state acknowledges that the backlog is causing the case counts to be underreported.

Merced County cases that are presumed active, which means they were laboratory confirmed within the past 14 days, rose to 2,226.

A total of 376 Merced County residents have been hospitalized due to COVID-19 in total, and 90 residents are currently hospitalized. Of those, 50 residents are hospitalized in Merced County, while others are being cared for elsewhere, health officials say.

Merced County’s positivity level — the percentage of residents screened in the last seven days who have tested positive — stayed at 20%.

There have been 560,861 confirmed cases in the state of California and 10,311 deaths.

Nearby counties

Stanislaus County: 169 deaths, 9,589 recoveries, 10,264 total cases since pandemic’s start.

Fresno County: 815 new cases since Friday, 17,846 the number of residents who have tested positive since pandemic’s start, 171 deaths.

Kings County: The county has not provided an update on its case counts or deaths since Sunday evening, Aug. 2. At that time, Kings County reported 4,453 cases to date, including 1,662 at state prisons in Avenal and Corcoran, and 56 fatalities.

Madera County: 161 new cases since Friday, 2,463 to date; no additional deaths, 39 deaths to date; 1,772 people recovered.

Mariposa County: Two new cases since Friday, 62 to date; no additional deaths, two deaths to date; 57 people recovered.

Merced County: 744 new cases since Friday, 5,736 to date; six additional deaths, 70 deaths to date; 3,440 people recovered.

Tulare County: 387 new cases since Friday, 10,862 to date; no additional deaths, 196 deaths to date; 9,524 people recovered.

This story was originally published August 10, 2020 at 7:07 PM.