Coronavirus

Coronavirus update, Nov. 24: Stanislaus hospital use rises again; deaths reach 418

Latest facts on COVID-19 testing in Modesto area

Stanislaus County reported another rise Monday in hospital use by people with COVID-19. Deaths rose by two to 418 residents, the county Health Services Agency announced.

The county has 20,658 people who have tested positive for the virus, 204,719 who tested negative and 18,749 who are presumed recovered.

The state reported 112 positive tests in the county Sunday, down from 222 on Saturday. The numbers should average 40 or fewer to make progress on reopening the local economy.

The county’s positivity rate was 6.9% on Sunday, based on 1,622 tests. The rolling seven-day average was 11.15%. The 14-day average was 10.45%.

The state requires a positivity rate of under 8 percent to advance to the next less restrictive tier in its system.

A total of 152 people were hospitalized Monday with confirmed or suspected cases of the virus in Stanislaus County, up from 142 the day before. Six intensive care beds for adults were available, down from 13 the day before.

The county updated its demographic breakdowns of the positive tests Monday, for the first time in several days:

  • 54% are female
  • 46% male
  • 8% are 14 years or younger
  • 16% are ages 15 to 24
  • 20% 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 7,299 positive cases
  • Turlock has 2,793
  • Ceres has 2,281
  • Patterson has 1,053
  • Riverbank has 952
  • Oakdale has 468
  • Newman has 400
  • Waterford has 269
  • Hughson has 193
  • Supervisorial District 5 has 1,201
  • District 3 has 1,111
  • District 2 has 899
  • District 1 has 433
  • District 4 has 139

In other nearby counties:

As of Tuesday morning, there were 1,133,048 confirmed cases in California and 18,783 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. There were 12,421,993 U.S. cases and 257,707 deaths.

Job creation could stall in winter

Unemployment in Stanislaus County continued to fall in October, but increased coronavirus restrictions could again cause a temporary rise in the jobless numbers as winter approaches.

How has on-campus learning gone in Oakdale?

The past five weeks in Oakdale have reinforced what most educators and families already agree upon: Distance learning doesn’t come close to in-person instruction, and there’s no 100% safe way to have children and adults on campuses.

How to stay safe on Thanksgiving

With small gatherings of friends and families fueling the autumn surge, public health officials have strongly encouraged everyone to rethink, and ideally avoid, large gatherings for Thanksgiving. Local leaders are planning big changes to how they are celebrating this year.

Black Friday will look different this year

Black Friday, the traditional start of the holiday shopping season, will look a lot different in 2020 because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Christmas events, pandemic-style

Several communities and groups still plan to bring some holiday spirit to the region at the end of what’s been a festive-challenged year.

Flora defends Hawaii trip

Assemblyman Heath Flora, R-Ripon, had no apology for attending a four-day conference in Hawaii as COVID-19 cases are spiking in California and the rest of the nation.

Pandemic aggravates eating disorders

Isolation at home and the stress of the coronavirus pandemic evidently is driving a large number of referrals for people seeking help for eating disorders.

Salvation Army, others will skip sit-down meals

The annual tradition of The Salvation Army and Modesto Gospel Mission serving sit-down meals with all the trimmings over Thanksgiving and Christmas to thousands of men, women and children won’t happen this year because of the new coronavirus pandemic, and efforts to adapt have proved difficult.

Businesses pivot again on rules

As tighter coronavirus restrictions take effect in Stanislaus County, small businesses are once again adapting to changing rules and looking to retain their clients in the coming weeks and months.

Residents to blame for move to purple

Blame Gov. Gavin Newsom all you want, but he didn’t shove Stanislaus County back to the state’s most restrictive COVID-19 purple tier. We did, says The Bee’s Editorial Board.

Dining goes outside once again

Stanislaus County restaurants are going through a horrifying “Groundhog Day” of a year. Opened inside at the start of the year, closed inside in March, opened inside in May, closed inside in July, opened inside in October and now closed inside once more in November.

How Stanislaus will enforce new rules

Stanislaus County’s approach to enforcing the state’s coronavirus orders won’t change as local communities learn to live under tighter restrictions imposed by the state, the county’s chief executive said.

From around the state, nation and world

Pfizer, Moderna and now the British-Swedish company AstraZeneca are in line to provide the country with three different COVID-19 vaccines if given government approval. But what does vaccine efficacy mean?

President-elect Joe Biden is hopeful that Congress can pass coronavirus relief legislation once President Donald Trump leaves office.

Although health officials and agencies have urged Americans to limit Thanksgiving gatherings to household members only, one in three parents say the benefits of holiday celebrations outweigh the risks of spreading or getting the coronavirus, one poll found.

This story was originally published November 24, 2020 at 6:15 AM.

John Holland
The Modesto Bee
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.
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