Merced County total COVID deaths surpass 400. Just over 5 percent of residents vaccinated

Merced County pubic health officials on Monday reported surpassing 400 COVID total deaths, with 176 new coronavirus cases and four deaths since Friday.

A total of 401 Merced County residents have died since the beginning of the pandemic in March last year. Public health reports that 5.1% of Merced County’s 287,420 residents received a first and second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Of the latest deaths, three were men and one was a woman. All four of the deceased were age 65 or older and all had underlying health conditions, according to the county.

Health department data showed there were 54 coronavirus cases recorded on Saturday, 51 on Sunday and 71 on Monday.

A total of 29,147 residents have been infected with the virus since the start of the pandemic and 1,062 are estimated to be currently infected – 103 less than reported by the county on Friday.

Data shows there are currently 33 people hospitalized throughout the county due to the virus – an increase of three since Friday.

According to the state, Merced County hospitals had six people in the ICU, with seven ICU beds remaining as of Sunday.

Merced County’s current positivity rate is 6.5%, meaning the level of people among those who have been tested and had a positive result.

Progress in increasing the number of people getting vaccinated, however, depends on Valley counties continuing to receive allocations of two different medicines that have emergency-use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration – one produced by Pfizer-BioNTech, the other by Moderna. Both vaccines require a two-shot regimen, with a second dose administered 21 to 28 days after the first shot.

A third vaccine, a one-shot option produced by Johnson & Johnson, received emergency-use authorization from the FDA on Saturday. Johnson & Johnson said it expects to ship 20 million doses of its product in the U.S. by the end of March.

Updated statewide figures showed 3,479,078 confirmed cases in California and 52,194 deaths as of Monday.

Elsewhere in the Valley

Across the rest of the central San Joaquin Valley, counties’ Monday updates included:

Stanislaus County reported three new deaths, bringing the total to 949 fatalities since the start of the pandemic. There have been 50,579 cases reported since the beginning of the pandemic.

Fresno County: 155 new coronavirus infections confirmed Monday. That follows weekend reports of 187 new cases on Saturday and 191 on Sunday. Total number of Fresno County residents who have tested positive for COVID-19 stands at 95,548. Of that total, 1,451 deaths in Fresno County have been attributed to COVID.

Kings County: 22 new cases Monday, 22,082 to date; no additional deaths, 220 to date.

Madera County: 73 new cases since Friday, 15,429 to date; five additional deaths, 214 to date.

Mariposa County: No new cases Monday, 395 to date; no additional deaths, seven to date.

Tulare County: 144 new cases since Friday, 48,013 to date; three additional deaths, 761 to date.

This story was originally published March 1, 2021 at 5:59 PM.