Merced County hits 375 total COVID deaths, state surpasses 45,000 total deaths
The Merced County Department of Public Health reported two new COVID-19 related deaths on Thursday, bringing the total of deaths to 375 since the start of the pandemic.
Of the new deaths, one was a man and the other was a women, both over the age of 65. At least one of the deceased was known to have underlying health conditions.
On Thursday 139 new confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported in Merced County, bringing the total to 27,701 residents who have been infected with the virus since the start of the pandemic.
There are 1,663 Merced County residents estimated to be actively infected — a drop of 186 cases since Monday.
The number of residents hospitalized in Merced County due to the coronavirus is 37 — an decrease of two cases since Monday — with 19 people in the ICU.
According to the state, Merced County hospitals had two ICU beds remaining as of Wednesday.
Merced County currently has a positivity rate of 8.9%, meaning the level of people among those who’ve been tested who had a positive result. That’s a decrease from 10.7% a week ago.
California surpasses 45,000 deaths
California surpassed a grim milestone on Thursday when the state surpassed 45,000 COVID-19 related deaths. The California Department of Public Health reported the official death toll at 45,456 with a single-day increase of 461, slightly below the state’s average of 464 over the past two weeks.
The first 15,000 fatalities took more than six months from March to September of 2020. It took another four months from September to Januardy to reach 30,000 fataties.
The last 15,000 deaths came in just under a month.
The state reported Thursday that about 5.29 million total doses have been administered, and the CDC on its data tracker
Merced County Department of Public Health reports that 3.3% of the residents in the county have been vaccinated. Merced County has received a recent boost in vaccinations with Merced College hosting a vaccination clinic this week and is scheduled to host a two-day clinic next week.
California Teachers retiring early due to pandemic
The California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) said this week that teachers in the state are retiring in the highest numbers in more than a decade, many of them due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a survey of over 500 teachers who retired in the second half of 2020, CalSTRS said 62% retired earlier than planned and, of those, more than half cited the challenge of teaching during a pandemic and more than one-third cited fear of exposure to COVID-19 as the reason.
Around the Valley
Coronavirus updates from other counties in the central San Joaquin Valley include:
Fresno County reported 146 new cases on Thursday. There were eight new deaths reported on Thursday, bringing the total to 1,291 since the start of the pandemic.
Stanislaus County reported seven new deaths, bringing the total to 888 since the start of the pandemic. There were also 192 new cases, raising the total to 48,376 since the start of the pandemic.
Kings County: 83 new cases, 21,441 to date; five additional deaths, 205 to date. The county’s totals include almost 7,200 cases and 17 deaths among inmates at state prisons in Avenal and Corcoran.
Madera County: 49 new cases, 14,923 to date; no additional deaths, 189 to date.
Mariposa County: Four new cases, 385 to date; no additional deaths, five to date.
Tulare County: 131 new cases, 46,608 to date; 12 additional deaths, 684 to date. Tulare County has confirmed average of almost nine deaths deaths each day since the start of February, compared to about six per day during the month of January.
Valleywide, hospitals had 603 patients with confirmed COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, including 145 in intensive-care units. The total coronavirus patient volume was the lowest since Dec. 5, and down from a peak of almost 1,100 on Jan. 5.
The Sacramento Bee and Fresno Bee contributed to this report.
