Merced County surpasses 25,000 total COVID-19 cases since beginning of pandemic
Merced County passed another grim milestone Friday by surpassing 25,000 total confirmed COVID-19 cases reported since the pandemic began 10 months ago, according to the local Department of Public Health.
There were 260 new cases reported Friday, bringing the total to 25,048 residents who have been infected with the virus since March.
Merced County passed the 25,000 case milestone in the same week the county surpassed 300 deaths.
There were four more COVID-19 deaths reported Friday, bringing the total to 324 since the start of the pandemic. There have been 28 deaths reported in the past seven days.
There are currently 3,542 cases considered active. The number of residents hospitalized in Merced County due to the virus dropped from 54 on Thursday to 44 on Friday.
Merced County currently has a positivity rate of 14.7 percent, meaning the level of people among those who’ve been tested who had a positive result.
Vaccine rates lag in California
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday that California had administered 1,803,679 of the more than 4.7 million doses allocated by the federal government through Thursday. That’s 4,565 doses for every 100,000 residents, which continues to rank in the bottom 10 among the 50 states and D.C.
California’s administered dose total increased by 169,804 from Thursday’s CDC update.
At least about 1.48 million Californians have received one dose and about 322,000 have received both doses, according to federal data. Pfizer and Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines are two-dose regimens, taken three weeks and four weeks apart, respectively.
CDPH has classified the state’s 58 counties into six vaccination regions. Region five includes Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced and Tulare, where 52,432 doses have been administered.
Around the Valley
Tulare County reported 218 new positive cases of COVID-19, bringing the total to 42,759 cases since the pandemic began. Two more recorded deaths brought that total to 531.
Fresno County reported 23 new deaths, bringing the total to 1,043 since the start of the pandemic. There were also 546 new cases on Friday, bringing the total to 84,137
Madera County did not report any new deaths, leaving the total at 151. Eighty-five new cases pushed the total to 13,583.
Mariposa County did not report any changes to its 346 cases and four deaths.
Stanislaus County reported nine new deaths, bringing the total to 782 deaths since the start of the pandemic. There were also 252 new cases reported, bringing the total to 43,644.
The Sacramento Bee and Fresno Bee contributed to this report.
