Merced County sees single highest day of reported COVID-19 cases since January
The number of COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations continue to surge in Merced County, as concerns mount over the spread of the highly contagious delta variant.
Merced County Supervising Epidemiologist Dr. Kristynn Sullivan said in an email to the Sun-Star the local Department of Public Health reported 208 new cases Thursday. That’s the single highest number of reported cases in Merced County since January.
Plus, the county saw the number of residents infected by the virus jump by 797 people in the past week. To date, a total of 34,558 people have been infected by COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. “Hospitalizations have also continued to increase, with 29 COVID-positive patients hospitalized in Merced County as of (Thursday),” Sullivan wrote.
Merced County has averaged 113.9 new cases per day in the past seven days.
Merced County also reported four new deaths due to COVID-19 this past week, bringing the total of fatalities to 492 since the start of the pandemic. “Deaths are a lagging variable, and we have not seen a surge in deaths yet,” Sullivan said. “However, after only six deaths reported in both June and July, August has already had four deaths reported to us in less than two weeks.”
The increased number of cases is putting a burden on local hospitals with 48 residents hospitalized due to COVID-19 in the past week, according to Department of Public Health. That’s up from 37 hospitalized in the prior week.
Merced County has seen a steady increase in the number of residents needing ICU care due to the virus. On July 1, there was only ICU patient in Merced County due to COVID-19. On Thursday there were 12 ICU patients in the county. There are currently only two ICU beds available in Merced County.
Staffing issues at hospitals
As the workload rises in hospitals statewide, dozens of health care workers and hospital staff are not because they are either isolating from exposure to COVID-19 or in quarantine because they’ve tested positive for the virus.
Sullivan says that’s also happening in Merced County, with local hospitals reporting to be short staffed.
Merced County’s daily case rate has jumped from 16.5% per 100,000 residents during the week of July 31 to Aug. 6 to 22.70% this past week, according to the Merced County Department of Public Health.
Sullivan says Merced County health officials are still stressing the importance of residents getting vaccinated.
Sullivan says 40% of Merced County residents eligible to be vaccinated (ages 12 and up) are fully vaccinated. At least 55% of residents have received at least the first dose.
“We have seen an increase in first doses over the last few weeks,” Sullivan said.
Officials encourage residents who are not yet vaccinated to schedule an appointment online using MyTurn.CA.gov or by calling 833-422-4255.
Residents can also visit their primary care provider or pharmacy, as well as the COVID-19 Mobile Vaccination sites throughout Merced County, which offer walk-ins with no registration necessary.
