Coronavirus

Coronavirus update, Aug. 20: Nine more Stanislaus deaths. Nursing home reports more.

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Latest facts on COVID-19 testing in Modesto area

Another nine Stanislaus County residents have died of COVID-19, raising the total to 212 as of Wednesday.

No details were released on the ages or genders of the latest deaths, nor whether any had underlying conditions.

The Modesto area continued to be plagued by deadly outbreaks at nursing homes. The Hy-Lond Health Care center on Coffee Road reported this week that 12 patients who tested positive for coronavirus have died. That’s an increase from three a week ago.

Over the course of the outbreak, 44 patients and 32 staff members at Hy-Lond have tested positive. Twenty of the residents and 24 employees have recovered.

It’s not known if the nine additional deaths at the nursing home were included in the county’s update Wednesday.

The county’s total cases rose by 190 to 12,935. Another 65,439 people have tested negative, and 11,673 are presumed recovered.

The daily update from the Health Services Agency included a 45.02% infection rate, quadruple the previous day’s figure.

The rolling seven-day infection rate was 20.82% on Wednesday, compared with 24.38% the day before. The 14-day average was 20.93%, down from 21.49%.

The 3,438 positive results over the last 14 days put the case rate per 100,00 residents at 615. The state wants it at 200 before considering giving school districts a waiver for on-campus learning.

The county’s overall infection rate since March is 16.5%, up from the 16.3% on Tuesday.

Details were once again provided Wednesday on the genders, age ranges and hometowns of infected people. A state reporting glitch had shut this down for two weeks.

Of those who tested positive, 54% are female and 46% male. Seven percent are 14 or younger, 17% are 15 to 24, 21% are 25 to 34, 18% are 35 to 44, 15% are 45 to 54, 12% are 55 to 64, 6% are 65 to 74, 3% are 75 to 84, and 2% are 85 or older.

Though they make up 47 percent of the population, Latinos represented 61 percent of the positive cases.

Modesto has 4,638 positive cases, 1,618 are in Turlock, 1,578 are in Ceres, 608 are in Patterson, 596 are in Riverbank, 244 are in Newman, 236 are in Oakdale, 192 are in Waterford, and 111 are in Hughson. Of the cases in unincorporated areas, 771 are in supervisorial District 5, 736 are in District 3, which includes Salida, 571 are in District 2, 252 are in District 1, and 78 are in District 4

At the county’s five hospitals, only two of the 123 intensive care beds for adults were available Wednesday. The total number of hospitalized confirmed patients was not updated from Tuesday’s 185.

The county also has some COVID-19 patients at Central Valley Specialty Hospital, the former Modesto City Hospital on 17th Street.

In other nearby counties:

As of Thursday morning, there were 647,363 confirmed cases in California and 11,694 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. There were 5,530,247 U.S. cases and 173,193 deaths.

Here is the state tracker.

An inside look at a Modesto intensive care unit

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The sign outside Big Valley Christian School on Tully Road in Modesto reads, “Now meeting in-person & online.” It doesn’t say “In-person instruction,” and that is key when it comes to the “distance-learning camp” offered.

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With its biggest tech fires put out by the third day of school last week, Modesto City Schools leaders said Monday that teachers now can really get down to the business of education.

Turlock distance learning camp runs while schools closed

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Stanislaus County nursing homes report coronavirus cases

Stanislaus County ranks ninth in the state for COVID-19 cases reported by skilled nursing facilities. Coronavirus outbreaks at Modesto-area nursing homes include Brandel Manor in Turlock.

Livingston mayor tells of Foster Farms outbreak

The Foster Farms facility in Livingston has had an outbreak of more than 200 infections in recent weeks, including at least two deaths, according to Mayor Gurpal Samra.

Putting a human face on Stanislaus COVID tragedy

Charlie Brown of Ceres led a long and full life that was ended by COVID-19 in a Turlock rest home. Lockdown rules prevented any of his 61 descendants from being with him when he died.

Stanislaus County health officer remains calm amid COVID-19

Dr. Julie Vaishampayan, public health officer for Stanislaus County, trained for years to deal with the science of a viral pandemic. But, she said wasn’t prepared for the “lack of civility” from some residents.

From around the state, nation and world

It’s the million dollar question: Can we develop long-term immunity against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that has taken the lives of over 783,000 people worldwide as of Aug. 19?

Disapproval of President Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic has reached a new high, according to a recent CNN poll.

A woman who was breaking COVID-19 rules in a San Francisco park hurled racist insults toward a city employee, who filmed the incident and posted it on Facebook.

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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