Merced County reports more than 600 new COVID-19 cases, two deaths since Thanksgiving

A total of 638 new coronavirus cases have been recorded in Merced County over the past five days, Merced County Department of Public Health said Monday.

Additionally, two deaths were recorded since the county last released coronavirus numbers on Nov. 25, the day before Thanksgiving.

The two men who died were age 65 or older with underlying health conditions. The latest fatalities brings the number of COVID-19-related deaths in Merced County to 181. A total of 12,175 laboratory confirmed cases have been reported since the pandemic’s start.

Over the past five days, Merced County recorded:

• 130 cases Nov. 26
• 153 cases Nov. 27
• 95 cases Nov. 28
• 146 cases Nov. 29
• 114 cases Nov. 30

Merced’s positivity rate, which is a seven-day average of all COVID-19 tests performed with a positive result, stands at 9.7%.

The county health department estimates there are 1,623 active Merced County infections. This number reflects new laboratory confirmed cases reported in the past 14 days.

Hospitalizations up across Valley

According to data from the Merced County Department of Public Health, there are 61 total active hospitalizations of local residents. Of those, 32 are being cared for locally, while the rest are being cared for outside Merced County.

COVID-19 hospitalizations are going up statewide and in the Central Valley, nearing records set this summer, with limited numbers of ICU beds available in area hospitals.

As of Sunday, there were just four available ICU beds in Merced County, 10 available in Kings County, 14 available in both Fresno and Madera counties, and 23 in Tulare County. Mariposa County doesn’t have ICU beds.

Available ICU beds in the Valley have been low all year, but these shortages are very concerning now, with state officials projecting California will exceed its ICU capacity by mid-December if COVID-19 infection rates don’t slow.

There have been a total of 1,212, 968 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 19,141 deaths related to COVID-19 in California.