Merced County surpasses 500 COVID deaths, as new infections continue to strain hospitals
COVID-19 has now claimed the lives of more than 500 Merced County residents since the pandemic began, underscoring an already grim week that saw the county’s first pandemic-related infant death.
Four additional residents lost their lives to the virus since Monday, raising the local death toll since the pandemic’s start to 506 as of Thursday, according to the most recently available statistics released by the Merced County Department of Public Health on Friday.
The surpassing of 500 confirmed COVID-19 deaths and the loss of a young child served as a bleak reminder that a year and a half into the pandemic, the disease remains a formidable threat.
State and Merced County Public Health officials have urged residents to continue to wear masks in public, socially distance and get vaccinated in order to protect themselves and their community.
Plus, over 530 new cases of the virus were laboratory confirmed between Monday and Thursday. Thursday alone accounted for 239 new COVID-19 infections, according to the Merced County COVID-19 dashboard.
Active cases were estimated at 1,932 on Thursday compared to 1,820 on Monday. Daily cases per 100,000 residents have also risen to 43.40 from 39.20.
July and August have marked a notable and consistent uptick in cases that are neck-in-neck with the daily case counts seen during the county’s first major COVID-19 wave during the same months last year.
According to County Public Health, the communities with the highest number of cases per 1,000 residents are Dos Palos, Winton, Livingston and Delhi.
Strain on hospitals
Also of concern is the rising number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in conjunction with a dwindling number of available beds. Just one intensive care unit bed was free in Merced County as of Wednesday, the most recently available state data shows.
Active hospitalizations of Merced County residents number 34 as of Thursday. Regional ICU capacity for the San Joaquin Valley overall is 11.10%, according to County Public Health.
Patient loads have also risen dramatically across the broader central San Joaquin Valley – Fresno, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced and Tulare counties.
Over the six-county region, 718 people were hospitalized for COVID-19, including 680 confirmed cases and 38 suspected cases as of Monday. Of 121 patients in ICUs across the Valley, all but one were confirmed cases.
This week is the first time Valley coronavirus cases in hospitals exceeded 700 since earlier February.
Monday’s Valleywide figures were almost 25% higher than a week earlier, and 4.2 times the number of inpatient cases from a month ago, when 84 patients were hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases.
The number of coronavirus cases being treated in hospitals remains well below peaks from December and January, when the Valley was in the throes of a winter surge of new cases, hospitalizations and deaths.
But the accelerated pace at which hospitalizations have increased over the past month have eclipsed those set during that winter peak in Fresno and the Valley.
The mounting burden on hospitals in central California comes as vaccination rates in Valley counties continues to lag behind the statewide average, at the same time that the highly contagious delta variant of coronavirus spreads in the region, California and the U.S.
COVID-19 vaccinations — the best defense against catching the virus and contracting a severe case of the illness — did rise slightly in Merced County since Monday. The dashboard shows that 34.30% of eligible county residents are now vaccinated, but that still lags far behind the statewide average of 66% vaccinated.
Individuals interested in receiving the vaccine may visit Myturn.CA.gov or call 1-833-422-4255.
The Fresno Bee’s Tim Sheehan contributed to this report.
This story was originally published August 27, 2021 at 5:40 PM.
