Coronavirus update, Oct. 21: Stanislaus deaths at 393; positive rate at 2-week low
Latest facts on COVID-19 testing in Modesto area
Stanislaus County on Tuesday had its lowest COVID-19 positive rate in two weeks, and just 13 new cases. The county reported another death, raising the total to 393.
Tuesday’s positive rate of 2.74% was the lowest since the the 1.74% on Oct. 6. The rate was 9.78% on Monday. The rolling seven-day average was 7.27% on Tuesday, down from 7.69% the day before. The 14-day average was 8.11%, up from 8.04%. The rate since data collection began in March was 15.1%.
The 13 new cases raised the total to 17,354. Another 97,902 residents have tested negative, and 16,729 are presumed recovered.
The county’s five hospitals had 41 confirmed COVID-19 cases Tuesday, down from 45 on Monday. The number of available intensive-care beds for adults dropped from 21 to 12.
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In the first update Tuesday since leaving the move restrictive purple tier a week ago, Stanislaus County was able to meet the criteria for staying in the red status of California’s “slow and stringent” coronavirus reopening program.
The county’s adjusted case rate was reported Tuesday as 6 per 100,000 population, below the 7 per 100,000 maximum for the red tier. The county easily met the state criteria for test positivity criteria. It was 4.3 percent countywide and 4.7 percent in low-income neighborhoods that were disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 outbreaks.
The state’s red tier requirement for test positivity is 8 percent or less.
Stanislaus County must remain in the red tier for another week before schools are eligible to open for all grade levels.
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 Tuesday:
- San Joaquin County has 484 COVID-19-related deaths among 21,436 cases.
- Merced County has 153 deaths among 9,386 cases.
- Tuolumne County has 257 cases and four deaths.
- Mariposa County has 78 cases and two deaths.
As of Wednesday morning, there were 884,739 confirmed cases in California and 17,069 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. There were 8,275,066 U.S. cases and 221,083 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.
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Medicare enrollment goes virtual
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Crowd packs hearing for Velvet Grill & Creamery
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From around the state, nation and world
California public health officials released COVID-19 reopening guidelines for theme parks and stadiums on Tuesday, and it appears that major theme parks like Disneyland and Six Flags won’t be reopening any time soon.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a new guidance urging passengers on trains, planes and other public transportation to wear face masks to curb the spread of COVID-19.
A new study of thousands of personal wills, parish registers and other documents on deaths over a 300-year span reveals that plague outbreaks in England spread four times faster in the 17th century than they did in the 14th century.
