Merced County COVID infections dip. But state warns against Super Bowl gatherings
The Merced County Department of Public Health reported two new COVID-19 related deaths on Wednesday, bringing the total deaths to 359 since the start of the pandemic.
Of the latest deaths, one was a woman, the other was a man. One was over the age of 65 and the other was between the ages of 50 and 64. One of the recent deaths was a person who was known to have underlying health conditions. It was unknown whether the other person had underlying health conditions.
Meanwhile, state officials this week warned residents against holding or attending large gatherings over Super Bowl weekend.
State officials say people should continue to only gather with members of their own households, and wear masks whenever out in public or visiting people in different households.
Gatherings in the fall and over the Christmas season holidays led to “a lot of death” in California, said Mark Ghaly, Secretary of California Health and Human Services said.
He warned that the state could see more fatalities from Super Bowl or Lunar New Year gatherings. “Let’s not have the Super Bowl become the next beginning of a huge surge in California,” Ghaly said. “We give COVID an inch, and it takes a mile.”
Cases starting to drop, latest numbers show
On Wednesday 113 new confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported in Merced County, bringing the total number of cases to 26,914 residents who have been infected with the virus since the start of the pandemic.
There are currently 2,344 Merced County residents estimated to be actively infected — a drop of 135 cases since Monday. That’s also a drop of 558 cases since a week ago.
The number of residents hospitalized in Merced County due to the virus is 38 — an increase of three cases since Tuesday — with 17 people in the ICU.
According to the state, Merced County hospitals had three ICU beds remaining as of Wednesday.
Merced County currently has a positivity rate of 11.1 percent, meaning the level of people among those who’ve been tested who had a positive result. That’s a decrease from 13 percent a week ago.
Coronavirus cases are also on the decline in California, but officials say residents shouldn’t let their guard down just yet. The state reported a 14-day average positivity rate of 7.2% on Tuesday, down significantly from 11% two weeks ago.
The state is projecting ICU capacities across the state will rise above 30% by March. Only a few weeks ago, many regions were experiencing 0% ICU capacities.
Around the Valley
Stanislaus County reported six new deaths, bringing the total to 848 deaths. There were 284 new cases on Wednesday, bringing the total number of cases to 46.749 since the start of the Pandemic.
Fresno County reported 12 new deaths, increasing the total of the deaths to 1,185. There were 270 new cases, bringing the total of cases to 89,542.
Tulare County reported 13 new deaths and 143 new cases on Wednesday. The totals there: 619 deaths and 45,541 cases.
Kings County added 42 new cases — now a total of 10,894. No new deaths changed the total of 177.
Madera County did not report any new deaths but added 14 cases, which brings the totals to 184 and 14,509, respectively.
Mariposa County tallied two new cases but no new deaths. The count has seen 373 COVID-19 cases and five deaths since March.
