Merced County COVID hospitalizations surging again, as delta variant spreads statewide
In Merced and across the central San Joaquin Valley, the number of people who are sick enough with coronavirus to require hospitalization continues to put a strain on local health systems.
There were 25 patients in hospital beds Thursday in Merced County with COVID-19, including four in intensive care units, according to numbers from the state Department of Public Health.
That’s a significant increase, given that local COVID-19 hospitalizations had been at just five a month ago.
That’s four more hospitalizations than the previous day. Between COVID cases and other seriously ill patients, only four ICU beds were available countywide for new patients – three fewer than a day earlier. Merced County’s data shows more than 21% of the hospital bed space is taken.
Merced County updates its cases once a week, which showed a total Friday of 33,761 cases to date and 488 fatalities. That’s 440 more cases and three more deaths than a week ago.
More than 204,000 doses of the vaccine have been administered in Merced County. Around 31.6% of all county residents are fully vaccinated, according to the county’s COVID-19 dashboard.
The surge in hospitalizations for the virus corresponds to an upswing in confirmed new coronavirus cases not only in the region, but across California and in the United States, as the highly contagious delta variant spreads to more and more people.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control estimates that strains of the delta variant accounted for almost 95% of all new COVID-19 cases in the nation over the past two weeks, compared to 1.3% of cases just three months ago.
In California, state health officials estimate that the delta variant – first detected last fall in India and since spreading around the world – represented almost 85% of new cases last month in the state.
This story was originally published August 6, 2021 at 6:51 PM.
