As COVID cases decline, is Merced County closer to lifted restrictions? What the data shows
Merced County and neighboring Valley counties continue to see improvement in their coronavirus data, with the daily rate of new cases and positive tests both on the decline.
However, it’s not quite enough for the state Department of Public Health to give them a green light to expand the reopening of businesses from restrictions aimed at reducing the spread of COVID-19 in the counties.
In Tuesday’s latest update of Cailfornia’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy, Merced County and its neighbors remained stuck in purple Tier 1 of the state’s color-coded system that governs business reopenings based on risk of viral transmission. The purple tier represents what is considered “widespread” risk for the virus to spread in the community.
The state reported that in the week ending Feb. 20, Merced County had a daily average of 16.5 new cases per 100,000 residents. That’s down from 19.5 new daily cases the previous week – but it’s still over double the daily average of seven cases per 100,000 residents that counties must meet or beat to graduate into the less restrictive red Tier 2, denoting “substantial” risk in the state’s blueprint.
Merced County does meet two other measures that the state uses to make its weekly tier assignments. Tuesday’s update shows that over the reporting week ending Feb. 20, 6.5% of residents who took coronavirus tests had results that were positive for the infection – handily coming in below the threshold of 8% to reach the red tier.
A third measure, a “health equity” metric, requires that counties strive to ensure that testing positivity rates in low-income or disadvantaged census tracts don’t lag behind the overall county average. To move from purple to red, testing positivity in those neighborhoods must dip below 8%; Merced County is now at 6.3%.
A county must meet all three measures for two weeks before it can move into a less restrictive tier.
Like Merced, Kings, Madera, Fresno, Stanislaus and Tulare counties also remain in purple Tier 1. Mariposa County is the only Valley county in a less restrictive tier, remaining in red Tier 2.
In the purple tier, restaurants are limited to take-out orders or outdoor dining and barred from serving diners indoors, although some establishments have been operating in defiance of that order. Similarly, fitness clubs and gyms are supposed to be limited to outdoor operations. Churches can hold services indoors, but only at up to 25% of their capacity. Retail stores can be open, also at up to 25% capacity. All businesses are required to maintain physical distancing and have both staff and customers wear face coverings.
In the red tier, both restaurants and gyms are authorized to reopen for indoor service with capacity limits. Retail stores can expand operations to 50% of their capacity.
As of Tuesday, 40 of California’s 58 counties are in purple Tier 1; 16 are now in red Tier 2, and two are in orange Tier 3, representing “moderate” risk of spreading the virus. No counties are in yellow Tier 4, denoting “minimal” risk.
Merced County reports four new deaths
The Merced County Department of Public Health reported four new deaths on Tuesday, bringing the total of fatalities to 405 since the start of the pandemic.
Of the latest deaths, two were men and two were women. Three of the deceased were over the age of 65 and one was between the ages 35 and 49. At least two of the deceased were known to have underlying health conditions.
On Tuesday, Merced County also reported 48 new COVID-19 confirmed cases, raising the total to 29,195 residents who have been infected by the virus since the start of the pandemic.
There are 994 Merced County residents estimated to be actively infected — a drop of 246 cases since a week ago.
The number of residents hospitalized in Merced County due to the coronavirus is 30 — with five people in the ICU.
According to the state, Merced County hospitals had six ICU beds remaining as of Thursday.
Merced County has a positivity rate of 6.4%, meaning the level of people among those who’ve been tested who had a positive result. That’s ticked back up from 5.9% a week ago, although at the beginning of the month the positivity rate was 11%.
Around the Valley
Fresno County reported 129 new COVID-19 related cases on Tuesday. There were no new deaths reported. The number of fatalities since the start of the pandemic remains at 1,451.
Stanislaus County reported new new cases on Tuesday, bringing the total to 50,639 since the start of the pandemic. There was one new death reported, raising the total of deaths to 950 since the start of the pandemic.
Kings County: Nine new cases, 22,091 to date; no additional deaths, 220 to date. The county’s totals include more than 7,200 cases and 17 deaths among inmates at state prisons in Avenal and Corcoran.
Madera County: 23 new cases, 15,452 to date; no additional deaths, 214 to date.
Mariposa County: No new cases as of Tuesday afternoon, 395 to date; no additional deaths, seven to date.
Tulare County: 73 new cases, 48,086 to date; five additional deaths, 766 to date.
Over the course of the past year, almost 211,000 residents in the six-county region have had COVID-19, whether they became sick or never showed symptoms but remained capable of spreading the virus. Of those, 3,063 people have lost their lives to the disease.
The Fresno Bee contributed to this report.
This story was originally published March 2, 2021 at 5:20 PM.
