Coronavirus update, Sept. 30: Stanislaus barely misses another step on reopening
Latest facts on COVID-19 testing in Modesto area
Stanislaus County on Tuesday barely missed moving from the state’s most restrictive level for businesses.
The day also brought three more deaths to COVID-19, bringing the total to 359 residents, according to the Health Services Agency.
Positive tests rose by 25 to 16,496. Another 87,674 residents have tested negative, and 16,496 are presumed recovered.
Tuesday’s positive rate was 6.46%, making for seven straight days below 10 percent.
But the county remains in the lowest, or purple, tier in the state rating system that decides how much restaurants and other businesses can loosen its coronavirus restrictions.
The county’s five hospitals had 39 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, down from 50 on Monday. There were seven available intensive-care beds for adults, down from 11 the day before.
Of those who tested positive:
- 54% are female
- 46% male
- 7% are 14 years or younger
- 16% are ages 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,
- 2% are 85 or older.
- Though they make up 47 percent of the population, Latinos represented 64 percent of the positive cases.
Geographically:
- Modesto has 6,122 positive cases
- Turlock has 2,226
- Ceres has 2,061
- Riverbank has 828
- Patterson has 804
- Oakdale has 368
- Newman has 337
- Waterford has 253
- Hughson has 146
- Supervisorial District 5 has 1,039
- District 3 has 933
- District 2 has 736
- District 1 has 355
- District 4 has 114
In other nearby counties:
- San Joaquin County has 447 COVID-19-related deaths among 20,357 cases.
- Merced County has 143 deaths among 8,961 cases.
- Tuolumne County has 227 cases and four deaths.
- Mariposa County has 76 cases and two deaths.
As of Tuesday evening, there were 816,874 confirmed cases in California and 15,766 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. There were 7,188,752 U.S. cases and 205,966 deaths.
There has been some movement on the reopening of schools in previous weeks, 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.
We’re stuck in purple, barely
Stanislaus County was very close in a coronavirus update Tuesday to meeting the second criteria for moving to a less restrictive tier in the state’s plan for safely reopening the economy.
Back to school in Knights Ferry
The much-changed world we’re living in right now was clear as the one-school Knights Ferry Elementary on Tuesday became one of Stanislaus County’s first public districts to return to in-person transitional-kindergarten through sixth-grade learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Families struggle to get food
The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified the existing economic woes for low-income families and brought on unexpected financial hardships for the newly unemployed throughout the county. But school districts, nonprofit agencies and others are finding new ways to help.
Pandemic stalls litter pickup efforts
The state Department of Transportation conducted a major trash cleanup along the San Joaquin River in Stanislaus County last week. But Caltrans is still facing criticism over mounting litter problems along Highway 99 and its offramps into Modesto after the pandemic reduced the number of volunteer efforts to clean those areas.
Love Modesto, delayed by COVID, seeks helpers
Love Modesto, the annual citywide volunteer day, typically takes place in the spring. The coronavirus pandemic delayed the effort, which now will take place Oct. 3 with adjustments to keep participants safe.
$2 million in grants for nonprofits available in Stanislaus County
Stanislaus County nonprofits that provide arts and cultural programs or youth services have until Sept. 25 to apply for $2 million in CARES Act funds.
People are getting back to work
Unemployment in Stanislaus County continues to fall, charting a course for a slow but long-term economic recovery from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
From around the state, nation and world
The fear that COVID-19 would disrupt the National Football League season was realized Tuesday when the 3-0 Tennessee Titans became the first team to report an outbreak.
As families plan their Thanksgiving dinners, health officials suggest taking certain precautions this year. That’s because some holiday activities have a higher risk of spreading COVID-19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
New York City deputies broke up an indoor wedding with around 300 people over the weekend for flouting coronavirus rules, officials said.
This story was originally published September 30, 2020 at 6:07 AM.
