Merced County reports 4 new COVID deaths. Total cases since pandemic began above 20K

Merced County added four COVID-19 deaths on Monday, the county’s latest coronavirus update since New Year’s Eve.

The latest update brings the total number of Merced County coronavirus deaths to 264. Another 958 new cases reported Monday bring Merced County’s total to 20,402 cases reported since the beginning of the pandemic, according to health officials.

There are four open ICU beds in Merced County. Hospitals have 57 COVID-19 patients, 18 of which are in ICU beds.

The county has a positivity rate of 13.2%, meaning the level of tests that returned with confirmed coronavirus. That’s an increase from 12.2% last week.

The central San Joaquin Valley region remains under the regional stay-at-home order with 0% ICU availability at local hospitals. The Valley region includes Fresno, Merced, Stanislaus, Calaveras, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, San Benito, San Joaquin, Tulare, and Tuolumne counties.

Health experts still expect that the next few weeks could see already-record levels of virus deaths and hospitalizations soar even higher due to the recent gatherings held over Christmas and New Year’s Eve.

The state on Monday surpassed 2.4 million lab-confirmed cases and added nearly 100 new COVID-19 deaths for 26,635 across the entire pandemic, according to the California Department of Public Health. In the past two weeks, California has added more than 500,000 cases and nearly 4,000 deaths, averages of about 38,000 infections and 283 fatalities per day. The latter mark is twice as high as the peak of the summer surge.

Vaccines can’t arrive fast enough for Gavin Newsom

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced during Monday’s news conference that a little over 454,000 Californians have had their first shot of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine administered.

Both vaccines are two-shot regimens that are taken a few weeks apart — three weeks for Pfizer’s, four for Moderna’s.

The governor said 1.3 million doses of vaccine have arrived in the state. That’s a discrepancy of a half-million from the federal government’s figure. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says as of Monday that California has received 1.8 million doses.

Newsom said about 600,000 doses were en route but not yet in California. The CDC’s tracker showed a similar number for vaccines administered in the state — 451,000 — as the one given by Newsom.

“It’s gone too slowly,” he said Monday. “For many of us, all of us, I think, want to see 100% of what’s received immediately administered in people’s arms.”

Other Valley counties

Stanislaus County: 36,225 total cases since pandemic’s start (an increase of 425), 631 total deaths as of Monday.

Fresno County approached 70,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus on Monday after a long holiday weekend as vaccines make their way around the state.

With Monday’s 598 new positive tests, the county sits at 69,318 cases since the pandemic began. There have been 711 reported deaths from the virus though the number is unchanged since New Year’s Day.

There are 663 people hospitalized due to the virus in Fresno County, and just six staffed and open beds in intensive care units on Monday, health officials said.

Tulare County reported 959 new positive cases on the county that now totals 34,402. No new deaths changed the total of 406.

Kings County tallied 227 new cases but no new deaths, making the totals 16,855 and 110, respectively.

Madera County reached 11,128 cases after adding 637 on Monday. The 117 total deaths remained unchanged.

Mariposa County reported no changes to the 267 cases and four deaths.

This story was originally published January 4, 2021 at 6:03 PM.