Coronavirus update, Dec. 3: Hospital patients reach 215 in Stanislaus; 225 new cases
Latest facts on COVID-19 testing in Modesto area
Hospitals in Stanislaus County had another jump in COVID-19 patients Wednesday, to a level not seen since the midsummer surge.
Meanwhile, the county reported 225 new positive tests, more than five times the level that would help loosen restrictions on business and gatherings.
The death toll rose to 430 with the two announced Wednesday by the county Health Services Agency. The county has 22,624 people who have tested positive, 228,763 who tested negative and 20,234 who are presumed recovered.
The state reported a 16.27% positivity rate in Stanislaus on Tuesday, based on 1,481 tests. That figure is released a day later than the county agency’s data. The rolling seven-day average was 11.91%. The 14-day average was 12.24%.
The state requires a positivity rate of under 8 percent to advance to the next less restrictive tier in its system. That means an average of 40 or fewer new cases in Stanislaus.
A total of 215 people were hospitalized Wednesday with confirmed cases of COVID-19, up from 198 on Tuesday. The number topped 220 at times during summer but hovered around 40 earlier this fall. Six intensive care beds for adults were available Wednesday, down from eight Tuesday.
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The demographic breakdowns of the positive tests as of Wednesday:
- 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 8,121 positive cases
- Turlock has 3,090
- Ceres has 2,520
- Patterson has 1,150
- Riverbank has 1,035
- Oakdale has 577
- Newman has 443
- Waterford has 287
- Hughson has 213
- Supervisorial District 5 has 1,264
- District 3 has 1,183
- District 2 has 977
- District 1 has 493
- District 4 has 146
In other nearby counties:
- San Joaquin County has 519 COVID-19-related deaths among 26,784 cases.
- Merced County has 185 deaths among 12,427 cases.
- Tuolumne County has 1,128 cases and 11 deaths.
- Mariposa County has 144 cases and three deaths.
As of Thursday morning, there were 1,268,765 confirmed cases in California and 19,446 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. There were 13,925,990 U.S. cases and 273,847 deaths.
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From around the state, nation and world
New research on preventive measures for COVID-19 found that mask mandates across the U.S. are not only effective at preventing new coronavirus infections, but they also “persistently” promote economic activity.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced during a Wednesday media briefing that it continues to recommend a quarantine period of 14 days after exposure to someone with COVID-19 to reduce the spread of the disease.
California reported more extremely concerning data on coronavirus activity from the current surge on Wednesday, especially with regard to hospital space for the most critically ill patients.
