Coronavirus update, Oct. 1: Stanislaus adds 3 deaths; September numbers lower
Latest facts on COVID-19 testing in Modesto area
The COVID-19 caseload continued to grow slowly in Stanislaus County on Wednesday. It also announced three more deaths, for a total of 362.
The 16 new positive tests bring the total to 16,512, the Health Services Agency reported. The update also shows 88,057 residents who tested negative and 15,935 who are presumed recovered.
Wednesday’s positive rate of 4.01% was down from 6.93% a day earlier. The rolling seven-day average was 3.32%. The 14-day average was 6.97%. The positive rate since data collection began in March was 15.8%.
The average positivity rate for September was 11.08%, down from 20.68% in August, 19.08% in July and 9 percent in June. Average daily tests were at a 542, down from 908 in August, 917 in July and 558 in June.
There were 102 deaths in September, down from 148 in August. In July, the county reported 60 deaths.
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 45 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, up from 39 on Tuesday. There were eight available intensive-care beds for adults, up from seven 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 6,135 positive cases
- Turlock has 2,227
- Ceres has 2,068
- Riverbank has 829
- Patterson has 809
- Oakdale has 371
- Newman has 337
- Waterford has 253
- Hughson has 146
- Supervisorial District 5 has 1,044
- District 3 has 935
- District 2 has 736
- District 1 has 356
- District 4 has 114
In other nearby counties:
- San Joaquin County has 456 COVID-19-related deaths among 20,411 cases.
- Merced County has 145 deaths among 8,993 cases.
- Tuolumne County has 228 cases and four deaths.
- Mariposa County has 76 cases and two deaths.
As of Wednesday evening, there were 819,646 confirmed cases in California and 15,902 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. There were 7,235,485 U.S. cases and 206,971 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.
San Joaquin, Calaveras among counties easing rules
Numerous California counties comprising several million residents were cleared this week to proceed further in the economic reopening process, but state and local health officials continue to urge people to follow mask and social distancing protocols to prevent another surge in coronavirus activity, and also to get their flu shots.
Stanislaus is 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.
High school league realignment will wait
Like a presidential election cycle, every four years some high school coaches, fans, and players are happy and some are sad when the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section releases its realignment of schools to different leagues.
Graceada Park event joins the trend
Gala in Graceada was intended to be an annual event when it kicked off last year: a formal dinner in Modesto’s large downtown park. But due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Gala, like so many similar efforts, is now an at-home event.
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.
From around the state, nation and world
President Donald Trump boasted during Tuesday’s debate that the military could deliver 200,000 COVID-19 vaccines a day when one is ready — a feat that would still mean years before every American got a vaccine.
Google recently announced a new feature for its map app designed to help users “navigate safely” by sharing the latest coronavirus data available for where they are, or where they’re going.
In uncertain times, people looking for answers and seeking comfort often come across inaccurate information, also known as conspiracy theories. During the coronavirus pandemic, experts say these theories can cost people their lives by spreading false public health information.
This story was originally published October 1, 2020 at 7:11 AM.
