Coronavirus update, Oct. 13: Infection rate inches up as county awaits tier designation

Latest facts on COVID-19 testing in Modesto area

Stanislaus County announced its 386th death and 38 new cases on Monday, the eve of a possible easing of state rules on business and other activities.

The one death makes for 28 straight days with at least one reported by the county Health Services Agency.

The county now has 17,076 residents who have tested positive, 94,167 who tested negative and 16,446 who are presumed recovered.

Monday’s positive rate of 8.24% was up from the previous day’s 7.35%. The rolling seven-day average was 8.37%. The 14-day average was 8.23%. The rate since data collection began in March was 15.4%.

The county will learn Tuesday whether it met the state’s thresholds for moving out of the purple tier, which indicates widespread infection. A shift to red would mean looser rules for restaurants, places of worship and other gatherings. Stanislaus met the standards last week but must do so twice to leave purple behind.

The county’s five hospitals had 48 confirmed COVID-19 cases Monday, up from 41 on Sunday. The number of available intensive-care beds for adults was at 18, down from 19.

Of those who tested positive, as of Friday:

• 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 6,461 positive cases
• Turlock has 2,322
• Ceres has 2,160
• Riverbank has 863
• Patterson has 857
• Oakdale has 398
• Newman has 348
• Waterford has 265
• Hughson has 169
• Supervisorial District 5 has 1,101
• District 3 has 977
• District 2 has 760
• District 1 has 374
• District 4 has 124

In other nearby counties:

• San Joaquin County has 473 COVID-19-related deaths among 20,828 cases.
  
  
• Merced County has 150 deaths among 9,149 cases.
  
  
• Tuolumne County has 240 cases and four deaths.
  
  
• Mariposa County has 77 cases and two deaths.

San Joaquin and Merced counties did not update their data Monday.

As of Monday evening, there were 858,377 confirmed cases in California and 16,995 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. There were 7,804,643 U.S. cases and 215,089 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.

Gregori High staffers test positive

Several staff members at Gregori High School have tested positive for COVID-19, prompting a return to distance learning for the small groups of students who had returned.

Modesto Marathon finds a way to return

Organizers have scheduled a “virtual” Modesto Marathon for 2021 due to the uncertainty around the coronavirus pandemic, which forced organizers to cancel last year’s event.

County could move to COVID-19 red tier this week

If its coronavirus outbreak numbers hold, Stanislaus County could go to the lower restriction red tier. Restaurants, gyms, churches could reopen inside service.

Velvet Grill asks for supporters at hearing Tuesday

The Velvet Grill & Creamery restaurants will make their case Tuesday for why Modesto should not fine each of them $1,000 a day for serving customers indoors in violation of the state’s public health order to stop the new coronavirus.

Update on elementary schools

More school districts in Stanislaus County are submitting waivers to reopen TK-6 in-person learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, among the latest being Turlock and Salida, whose boards approved plans Tuesday.

Kids’ pumpkin stand aids first responders

“The real sheriff?” 8-year-old George Bogetti exclaimed Wednesday morning when he learned Stanislaus County Sheriff Jeff Dirkse would be visiting the pumpkin stand he and his family put together to help first responders.

Mayor wants Modesto to stop enforcing COVID rules

Modesto Mayor Ted Brandvold wants the city to stop enforcing the COVID-19 rules so more of the economy and everyday life can return to normal.

From around the state, nation and world

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease expert in the U.S., said a new advertisement from President Donald Trump’s campaign used his words out of context.

Lawmakers’ on-again, off-again stimulus talks were revived over the weekend after President Donald Trump’s administration put forth a $1.8 trillion offer — but a deal on another coronavirus relief package remains in limbo.

A new study out of Australia found that the coronavirus can survive on common surfaces such as money, phone screens and stainless steel for about a month in room temperature conditions — a time frame that surpasses those from other studies.

This story was originally published October 13, 2020 at 4:40 AM.

John Holland

The Modesto Bee

209-578-2385

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.