Coronavirus update, Oct. 29: Stanislaus posts worst daily positive rate in 5 weeks
Latest facts on COVID-19 testing in Modesto area
Stanislaus County had its highest daily positive rate in five weeks Wednesday, an unwelcome number at a time when business owners hope for looser rules.
The county also reported another death, bringing the total to 399 residents since the pandemic began.
Wednesday’s positive rate of 14.47% was the highest since the Sept. 22 figure of 15.02%. And it more than tripled the 4.34% on Tuesday, which had offered faint hope that the trend was in the right direction.
The 46 new cases Wednesday brought the county’s total to 17,760, according to its Health Services Agency. It reported that 102,194 residents have tested negative and 17,033 are presumed recovered.
The rolling seven-day average for positive rates was 7.46% on Wednesday, down from 7.56% the previous day. The 14-day average was 7.07%, down from 7.42%. The rate since data collection began in March was 14.8%.
The number of patients with confirmed cases in the five Stanislaus County hospitals dipped to 43 from 49 on Tuesday. The number of available adult intensive care beds was at 15, up from 10.
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Tuesday’s weekly update on how Stanislaus is meeting state measures for reopening brought mixed news. The county barely met the criteria for staying in the red tier, rather than slipping back into purple, the most restrictive. The county must stay in the red tier for at least two more weeks.
Details on the positive cases with some numbers not having been updated for a few weeks:
- 54% are female
- 46% male
- 7% are 14 years or younger, up 1% from Friday.
- 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 Wednesday:
- San Joaquin County has 492 COVID-19-related deaths among 21,988 cases.
- Merced County has 155 deaths among 9,588 cases.
- Tuolumne County has 285 cases and five deaths.
- Mariposa County has 80 cases and two deaths.
As of Thursday morning, there were 920,141 confirmed cases in California and 17,544 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. There were 8,859,642 U.S. cases and 227,703 deaths.
Stanislaus risks backslide on rules
Stanislaus County barely made the cut Tuesday for staying in the coronavirus program’s red tier but residents will have to work hard to avoid a backslide to tighter state restrictions on local businesses.
Lodi gym owner loses shutdown lawsuit
A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit against Gov. Gavin Newsom and San Joaquin County and Lodi officials that had been filed by the owner of three Sacramento-area gyms after officials ordered the shutdown of fitness centers last spring because of COVID-19.
Latest help for homeless totals $22.8 million
Providers that run emergency shelters, conduct homeless outreach and house homeless people in Stanislaus County and its cities are in line to receive nearly $22.8 million from the CARES Act, the federal stimulus designed to respond to the new coronavirus pandemic.
Youngest Turlock students return to campuses
Turlock Unified, the largest district in Stanislaus County so far to begin reopening TK-6 in-person instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic under a waiver from the state, welcomed transitional kindergartners and kindergartners to school campuses Monday morning.
The latest on local museums and galleries
While museums now are allowed to reopen in Modesto, only one has plans at this time to do so. Meanwhile, two of the region’s biggest art galleries have reopened.
Early voting is a hit in Stanislaus
The number of mail ballots returned for the upcoming Nov. 3 election in Stanislaus County is double the amount in 2016, said Donna Linder, county registrar of voters, who’s pleased with the early voting this year.
Modesto and Kansas experts offer Halloween advice
An online forum Wednesday featured expert advice on how to safely celebrate Halloween and Dia de Los Muertos. One speaker was Dr. ChrisAnna Mink, a Modesto Bee health reporter. The other was Dr. Danielle Johnson, a clinical psychologist with the University of Kansas Health System. McClatchy newsrooms teamed up for the event.
Timely story from Modesto family wracked by suicide
Mitchell Brownlee was only 21 when the Modesto native took his own life in 2016. His family shared his story at a time when COVID-19 has added new stresses for vulnerable people.
From around the state, nation and world
Months after being shut down by the coronavirus pandemic, the first amusement park in California will be allowed to reopen, officials said. The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is scheduled to reopen in November.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sent a letter to governors this week pushing back a Nov. 1 deadline for states to be ready to receive and distribute coronavirus vaccines until after the presidential election.
Tampa Bay quarterback Tom Brady took time out of his busy NFL schedule on Tuesday to post a controversial story on Instagram. The story, claimed that death by suicide has caused more deaths than COVID-19 in the past two months.
