Coronavirus update, July 23: Stanislaus deaths hit 77. At-risk kids raise concern
Here is the latest on the coronavirus outbreak from in and around Modesto and Stanislaus County.
Latest facts on COVID-19 testing in Modesto area
Stanislaus County announced Wednesday that four more residents have died from the virus, bringing the total to 77. Details on the most recent deaths were not available.
The last nine days have brought 26 deaths, the county’s online update said.
Stanislaus had 6,984 positive tests as of Wednesday, an increase of 149 from Tuesday. Another 45,885 residents have tested negative, and 5,663 are presumed recovered.
Wednesday’s positivity rate of 15.33% was down from the 27.97% on Tuesday. The infection rate since the county started documenting data was 13.2% on Wednesday, unchanged from Tuesday.
The rolling 14-day rate of infection stood at 22.40% on Wednesday, compared with 21.93% the day before. The rolling seven-day rate of infection was 21.32% on Wednesday, down from 25.87% on Tuesday.
The number of hospitalizations was 221 on Wednesday, up from 210 on Tuesday. Among the five county hospitals, 34% of total beds are available, as are 22% of intensive care unit beds (only 0.9% of them for adults) and 65% of ventilators. Adult ICU beds had dropped to zero percent Monday.
Of those who tested positive, 55% are female and 45% male. Fourteen percent are 20 or younger, 20% are 21 to 30, 19% are 31 to 40, 17% are 41 to 50, 14% are 51 to 60, 7% are 61 to 70, 4% are 71 to 80, 4% are 81 to 90, and 2% are older than 90.
Though they make up 47 percent of the population, Latinos represented 73 percent of the positive cases.
Modesto has 2,485 positive cases, 922 are in Ceres, 882 are in Turlock, 325 are in Patterson, 309 are in Riverbank,
149 are in Oakdale, 130 are in Waterford, 101 are in Newman, and 70 are in Hughson. Of the cases in unincorporated areas, 462 are in supervisorial District 5, 446 are in District 3, which includes Salida, 282 are in District 2, 130 are in District 1, and 41 are in District 4.
- San Joaquin County has 98 COVID-19-related deaths among 9,595 cases.
- Merced County has 26 deaths among 2,994 cases.
- Tuolumne County has 109 positive cases and zero deaths.
- Mariposa County has 41 positive cases and one death.
As of Wednesday evening, there were 413,576 confirmed cases in California and 7,870 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. There were 3,969,786 U.S. cases and 143,178 deaths.
Here is the state tracker.
Modesto sixth-grader weighs in
Eleven-year-old Gabriel Alvarez was looking forward to starting sixth grade at Great Valley Academy because he misses his friends. He’s disappointed school will begin with distance learning. Read ChrisAnna Mink’s story.
Ninth Street shelter has positive tests
The Salvation Army is reporting three COVID-19 cases among its homeless shelter clients at its Berberian Center in Modesto. Read Kevin Valine’s story.
Stress on hospital front lines
Dr. Auro Reddy never dreamt of dealing with a contagious disease outbreak of these dimensions when he was admitted to the family practice medicine residency program in Stanislaus County. Read Ken Carlson’s story.
Stanislaus County leaders continue to fall short on messaging
Stanislaus County Supervisor Kristin Olsen ignored a dramatic death toll and zero occupancy in ICU beds to concentrate on nail and hair salons in a video address to the public. Read the Editorial Board’s take.
Pandemic aggravates ‘summer slide’ for students
Parents, volunteers, librarians, and the whole community need to partner to fight “summer slide,” when students lose up to three months of learning before the school year starts. Read the piece by Rochele Roura-Foster and Anne Britton.
Lots of questions as distance learning resumes
How will students and teachers be held accountable during distance learning? Will kids have to sit for hours on end in front of their computer screens? How will students and parents know to use the learning devices sent home? Read Deke Farrow’s story.
Teachers, parents speak up
Hand-in-hand with the issue of distance learning is the question of the circumstances under which schools can reopen for in-person learning. Read Deke Farrow’s story.
Turlock man continues to recover from coronavirus
As the coronavirus pandemic has progressed, doctors are learning more about the complexity of symptoms, acute and long-term, caused by the novel coronavirus. A Turlock, California, survivor talks about his recovery. See ChrisAnna Mink’s story.
Around California, United States and world
Public health officials have pushed Americans to wear a mask or face covering in public to help curb the spread of the coronavirus. But does the drive-thru count? Read the story.
Americans will be able to get a coronavirus vaccine for free under a deal with its makers, the companies say. The United States government placed an order for 100 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine candidate BNT162, developed by Pfizer and BioNTech. Read the story.
One of the worst activities you can do in the middle of a pandemic is attend a large gathering with thousands of attendees — but researchers in Germany want people to do just that. The goal is to examine just how dangerous those events really are. Read the story.
