Coronavirus

Coronavirus update, Aug. 14: Stanislaus deaths reach 187. Positivity rate plunges

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Latest facts on COVID-19 testing in Modesto area

Stanislaus County announced five more COVID-19 deaths Thursday, bringing the total to 187, but it also saw an abrupt slowdown in new cases.

Details were not available on the ages and genders of the five people who died, nor whether they had underlying conditions.

Positive tests rose by 90 to 11,682, the county Health Services Agency reported. The increase was well down from the 731 cases added Wednesday and the 591 on Tuesday.

The positivity rate was a mere 4.6% on Thursday. It was 42.8% the previous day and 56.4% on Tuesday.

Those rates could have been influenced by the backlog of results being sent to counties from the state, which has contended with technical issues in previous weeks.

The rolling seven-day average dropped to 19.5% on Thursday from 22.4% on Wednesday. The 14-day average was at 20.3%, down from 23.5%.

The infection rate since data collection started is at 15.8%, down from 16.1% the day before.

The number of confirmed cases in the county’s five hospitals rose by one to 192. It had gone as high as 223 last week. Six percent of adult intensive-care beds were available Thursday.

Most of the county’s detailed dashboard remained offline, meaning no updates on age ranges and hometowns for the positive cases.

In other nearby counties:

.As of Friday morning, there were 602,997 confirmed cases in California and 10,999 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. There were 5,254,878 U.S. cases and 167,253 deaths.

Here is the state tracker.

Eateries get help in downtown Modesto

The Downtown Modesto Partnership is behind two new projects aimed at helping restaurants, particularly, make it through the ongoing coronavirus outbreak and associated shutdowns.

Modesto takes action against businesses over coronavirus

Modesto issued cease-and-desist orders Tuesday to two restaurants, a spa, and a nail salon suspected of not complying with California’s public health order to stop the spread of the new coronavirus

Farmworkers fear retaliation for airing COVID-19 concerns

Some Stanislaus County farmworkers avoid requesting safety measures, reporting COVID-19 issues and even getting tested for fear of retaliation and job loss, according to a study examining agricultural labor issues in California.

Rent help on the way for Stanislaus County residents

A Modesto nonprofit that helps low-income families pay their rent says the number of phone calls from tenants has remained steady during the pandemic, but what really has gone up is how far behind the callers are in their rent.

Withrow pushes for schools to open

Stanislaus County supervisors heard a presentation Tuesday on a coronavirus outbreak that may or may not be receding a bit.

Modesto schools return remotely

Before they returned home to log in for the distance learning intended to keep themselves, their families and school employees healthy and safe during the COVID-19 outbreak, hundreds of Modesto students gathered outdoors Monday morning for the tradition known as senior sunrise.

Styling hair outside ain’t easy

As hair salons and barbershops remain closed for indoor cuts, a few intrepid Central Valley stylists are taking their clippers into the great outdoors instead.

Modesto-area ICUs: ‘Nothing but struggle, failure and death’

A Modesto nurse goes public about hospitals in Stanislaus County that are overburdened with patients suffering from COVID-19. The current wave includes younger adults who are fighting for their lives.

Modesto-area hospitals receive additional staff

Three hospitals have received temporary staff through the state’s Medical and Health Operational Area Coordinator program, administered through the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.

From around the state, nation and world

Nature gave us the coronavirus, but the conspiracy theories, myths, and outright lies that accompany it are all manufactured by people, and have killed, maimed, and hospitalized thousands, a new study finds.

Not all face masks are created equal when it comes to curbing the spread of the coronavirus, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.

The FDA’s Do Not Use hand sanitizer list, once a roll call of Mexican-made hand sanitizers with methanol, now includes hand sanitizers from China, Texas, North Carolina, Georgia and Utah.

This story was originally published August 14, 2020 at 4:24 AM.

Follow More of Our Reporting on Coronavirus in California

John Holland
The Modesto Bee
John Holland covers agriculture, transportation and general assignment news. He has been with The Modesto Bee since 2000 and previously worked at newspapers in Sonora and Visalia. He was born and raised in San Francisco and has a journalism degree from UC Berkeley.
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