Merced County hits 350 total COVID-19 deaths — 10 months after first case confirmed
The Merced County Department of Public Health reported one new COVID-19 related death Friday, increasing the total to 350 total deaths since the start of the pandemic.
There have been 26 deaths reported in the last seven days.
The latest death was a male between the ages of 50 and 64. He was known to have underlying health conditions.
On Friday 192 new confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported in Merced County, bringing the total number of cases to 26,230 residents who have been infected with the virus since the start of the pandemic.
The first case of coronavirus in Merced County confirmed March 22 last year, the first death was April 5
There are currently 2,738 Merced County residents estimated to be actively infected — a drop of 101 cases since Thursday. The number of residents hospitalized in Merced County due to the virus is 41 — a decrease of seven cases since Wednesday — with 21 people in the ICU.
According to the state, Merced County hospitals had no ICU beds remaining as of Thursday.
Merced County currently has a positivity rate of 12 percent, meaning the level of people among those who’ve been tested who had a positive result.
Since the first confirmed cases of COVID-19 were reported in early March 2020, more than 193,000 Valley residents have tested positive for the virus at some point. Of those, 2,424 people have died.
Around the Valley
Friday’s coronavirus updates from counties in the central San Joaquin Valley included:
Stanislaus County reported seven new deaths, 822 to date; 335 new cases, 45,599 to date.
Fresno County: 515 new cases, 87,401 to date; 15 additional deaths that were reported late Thursday, 1,137 to date.
Kings County: 169 new cases, 20,528 to date; no additional deaths, 169 to date. Nearly 7,100 of the cases in Kings County, and 17 deaths, have been among inmates at state prisons in Avenal and Corcoran.
Madera County: 85 new cases, 14,250 to date; no additional deaths, 175 to date.
Mariposa County: Four new cases, 362 to date; no additional deaths, five to date.
Tulare County: 261 new cases, 44,518 to date; 15 additional deaths, 588 to date.
The Fresno Bee contributed to this report.
This story was originally published January 29, 2021 at 5:29 PM.
