Coronavirus update: Merced County reports 7 new deaths, 91 new cases
The Merced County Department of Public Health reported seven new COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday, bringing the total local novel coronavirus fatalities to 339.
There have been 15 deaths reported since Friday and 79 COVID-19 deaths reported since Jan. 1.
Of the latest deaths, four were men and three were women. Two of those who died were 65 years or older, four were between the ages of 50 and 64 and one was between 35 an 49.
Four of those who died were known to have underlying health conditions. It’s unknown whether the other three had underlying health conditions.
There were 91 new confirmed COVID-19 cases reported Wednesday, bringing the total number of cases to 25,834 residents who have been infected with the virus since the start of the pandemic.
There are currently 2,902 residents estimated to be actively infected — a drop of 192 cases since Tuesday . The number of residents hospitalized in Merced County due to the virus is 50 — a decrease of four cases since Monday — with 16 people in the ICU.
According to the state, Merced County hospitals have one ICU bed remaining.
Merced County currently has a positivity rate of 13 percent, meaning the level of people among those who’ve been tested who had a positive result. That number is unchanged from Monday.
The six-county region of Fresno, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced and Tulare reported 55 deaths on Wednesday. Those counties also totaled 663 new cases.
To date, the region has seen 191,256 cases, including 2,326 deaths.
California’s COVID vaccine allocation to get boost
California’s coronavirus rates continue to decline from the peak of a major winter surge, and there is also good news on the COVID-19 vaccine front.
The state next week will get about 77,000 more doses than it did this week or last week, about a 16% increase in supply allocated by the federal government. President Joe Biden’s administration on Tuesday announced a nationwide supply boost from 8.6 million to a minimum of 10 million doses per week, which is also about a 16% increase.
Allocation data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show California will receive about 1,000 fewer Pfizer doses next week compared to this week, but Moderna doses will increase by 78,000, from 244,000 to 322,000.
Other Valley counties
Tulare County reported 10 new fatal cases, which makes for a total of 562 deaths since the pandemic began. Another 105 new positive cases brings that total to 44,035.
Fresno County reported 38 fatal cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the total number of deaths to 1,122 since the pandemic began. There were 337 new cases, which brings the total to 86,673.
Kings County added 53 new cases for a total now of 20,276. No new deaths changed the total of 161.
Madera County did not report any new deaths but added 76 cases for totals of 175 and 14,080, respectively.
Mariposa County tallied one more case to reach 358 infections total since the beginning of the pandemic. No change was reported to the five deaths seen since March.
Stanislaus County reported five new deaths, bringing the total to 808 COVID-19 related deaths since the start of the pandemic. There were 146 new cases, which brings the total of cases to 44,998.
The Fresno Bee and Sacramento Bee contributed to this report.
