Coronavirus update, Oct. 16: Stanislaus announces 389th death, 30 new positive tests
Latest facts on COVID-19 testing in Modesto area
Stanislaus County announced its 389th death and 30 new cases on its first full day of relaxed COVID-19 rules.
Thursday was the 31st straight day with at least one death reported by the Health Services Agency. The rate is well below the summertime surge but still a concern seven months into the pandemic.
Stanislaus now has 17,160 residents who have tested positive, 95,282 who tested negative and 16,547 who are presumed recovered.
Thursday’s positive rate of 6.99% was down from 8.22% the day before. The rolling seven-day average was 8.35%. The 14-day average was 8.23%. The rate since data collection began in March was 15.3%.
The county’s five hospitals had 39 confirmed COVID-19 cases Thursday, down from 42 the day before. The number of available intensive-care beds for adults was at 12, down from 14.
The county moved Tuesday from the purple to the red tier in the state ranking system, indicating that COVID-19 is no longer “widespread” but is still “substantial.” This allows, for example, indoor dining and worship with several safeguards.
The county has not updated its demographic data since Oct. 8. Details on the positive cases as of that date:
- 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 as of Thursday:
- San Joaquin County has 483 COVID-19-related deaths among 21,138 cases.
- Merced County has 152 deaths among 9,302 cases.
- Tuolumne County has 244 cases and four deaths.
- Mariposa County has 77 cases and two deaths.
As of Friday morning, there were 868,723 confirmed cases in California and 16,840 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. There were 7,981,099 U.S. cases and 217,717 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.
COVID-19: Stanislaus County churches can open indoor services
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Modesto Raley’s closes for cleaning
The Raley’s supermarket in Village One in north Modesto closed Thursday afternoon for cleaning after an employee tested positive for COVID-19. It was slated to reopen at 4 p.m. Thursday.
Illegal drop boxes for ballots turn up
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Manteca attraction will wait
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Modesto expands pandemic career training
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State loosens rules for Stanislaus
Stanislaus County was approved Tuesday for the less restrictive red tier in the state’s coronavirus reopening strategy, meaning a number of business sectors can reopen or expand capacity for serving customers.
Crowd packs hearing for Velvet Grill & Creamery
Modesto could not hold the Velvet Grill & Creamery’s Tuesday appeal of the city fining it for not following the new coronavirus restrictions after the restaurant’s supporters packed the hearing, exceeding its physically distanced seating capacity.
Outlook brightens for Modesto high schools
Just hours after Gregori High families were informed Monday that the campus was being closed for 14 days because several staff members tested positive for COVID-19, the Modesto City Schools Board of Education discussed with district administration the plan to reopen in-person learning.
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.
From around the state, nation and world
Freshman enrollment is down at colleges nationwide, falling a staggering 16% compared to last year, according to a report by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
A group of 80 scientists from across the globe signed a letter warning the world about the risks surrounding a herd immunity approach to overcoming the coronavirus pandemic, stating it’s “a dangerous fallacy unsupported by scientific evidence.”
During a long flight, if a passenger behind you coughs, how much risk do you face of catching coronavirus? A new study by U.S. Transportation Command found that the exposure risk may be small — especially if everyone wears a mask.
