Coronavirus update, Sept. 17: Stanislaus deaths at 321. Positive rate low once again
Latest facts on COVID-19 testing in Modesto area
Stanislaus County on Wednesday had its lowest daily positive rate since mid-June while announcing four more deaths to the virus.
A total of 321 residents have died of COVID-19, the county Health Services Agency said.
Wednesday’s positive rate was 3.4%, the lowest since the 3.1% on June 13. The 25 new cases brought the total to 16,077. Another 82,250 have tested negative, and 15,261 are presumed recovered.
The number of reported new infections for Wednesday was the county’s lowest single-day total since mid-June. However, it comes in a month in which an average of 627 test results are reported each day, compared with more than 900 per day in July and August.
The rolling seven-day average was 9.94%. The 14-day average was 13.22%. The county’s overall positive rate since March is 16.4%.
Hospitalizations for those with confirmed cases dropped to 73 from 79 on Tuesday. Eight adult intensive care unit beds were available among the five Stanislaus County hospitals, unchanged from the day before.
The county remained in the lowest purple tier, part of Gov. Newsom’s new grading system that will go toward measuring the ability to begin fully reopening businesses.
Stanislaus, along with the majority of the 58 California counties, is in the “purple tier,” with 9.4% positive cases per 100,000 residents and a positivity rate of 5.6%% in new data released Tuesday.
To move up into the “red tier,” which enables a softening of restrictions, the county needs to be both at seven positive cases per 100,000 or below and a positivity rate of 8% or below.
There also could be some movement on the reopening of schools this week, with some having applied for waivers through the Stanislaus County Office of Education. Here also is the state list, which includes Stanislaus private schools seeking waiver approvals.
Of those who tested positive, 54% are female and 46% male. Seven percent are 14 or younger, 16% 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 63 percent of the positive cases.
Modesto has 5,794 positive cases, 2,125 are in Turlock, 1,966 are in Ceres, 789 are in Riverbank, 760 are in Patterson, 342 are in Oakdale, 321 are in Newman, 225 are in Waterford, and 142 are in Hughson. Of the cases in unincorporated areas, 989 are in supervisorial District 5, 889 are in District 3, which includes Salida, 705 are in District 2, 334 are in District 1, and 100 are in District 4.
In other nearby counties:
- San Joaquin County has 399 COVID-19-related deaths among 19,623 cases.
- Merced County has 131 deaths among 8,692 cases.
- Tuolumne County has 216 cases and three deaths.
- Mariposa County has 75 cases and two deaths.
As of Thursday morning, there were 772,188 confirmed cases in California and 14,739 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. There were 6,631,561 U.S. cases and 196,831 deaths.
Turlock schools weigh reopening
A draft of the “Safe Schools Re-Opening Plan” for in-person transitional-kindergarten through sixth-grade education during the COVID-19 pandemic was presented to the Turlock Unified School District Board of Trustees on Tuesday night.
Merced board hears concerns about Foster Farms
Per capita, Livingston has the highest rate of COVID-19 cases in Merced County — largely due to the Foster Farms outbreak, County Public Health officials said at a Tuesday coronavirus update to the Board of Supervisors.
Stanislaus County inches closer to ‘red tier’
Stanislaus County remains in the coronavirus tier with the tightest restrictions while posting a lower number of cases this month. But health officials are encouraged.
Amazon adds jobs in Patterson, elsewhere
Amazon is recruiting more than 100,000 workers across the U.S. and Canada in anticipation of the holiday season, over 2,500 of which will be hired across the Central Valley.
Pandemic squeezes county budget
Stanislaus County’s final budget is marked by significant financial impacts from the coronavirus pandemic, forcing the county to use additional savings to balance the 2020-21 spending plan.
Several private schools go live
Several private schools in Stanislaus County, including Modesto Christian, Big Valley Christian and Sacred Heart in Turlock, resumed in-person instruction Monday for transitional-kindergarten through sixth-grade students. A few others brought students back last week, immediately after having their reopening plans approved by the state.
Health officials urge residents to get flu shots
Public health officials and medical experts say Americans older than 6 months should be getting an influenza vaccination in 2020, especially during coronavirus.
The city must make a move on downtown street closures
Modesto officials must put petty politics aside and develop a plan to close or narrow some downtown streets to help restaurants survive the COVID-19 pandemic.
Stanislaus State classes remaining virtual for spring 2021
California State University, Stanislaus, students will continue taking classes virtually instead of on campus next semester because of the coronavirus pandemic.
New firm aids teetering restaurants
Stuart’s Business Consulting has opened in downtown Modesto, staffed with experts on hiring, finance, marketing and other tasks. It is celebrating its launch with free initial consultations for restaurants struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic
Hundreds have filed COVID-19 complaints against Stanislaus businesses
Modesto residents filed complaints of businesses violating coronavirus public health orders. Many mentioned masks compliance and indoor operations.
From around the state, nation and world
Claims for money from a new federal unemployment benefit program jumped suddenly and dramatically last month in California and state investigators are concerned that the surge is evidence of an increase in fraudulent activity.
The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said face masks may do a better job at protecting against COVID-19 than a vaccine — contradicting prior comments from President Donald Trump about the importance of masks.
Scientists are looking at whether it will be safe to give a COVID-19 vaccine to previously infected individuals, since many of them may not be aware that they had the coronavirus.
