Coronavirus update, Dec. 23: Stanislaus adds 11 deaths, 557 cases. ICUs remain full
Latest facts on COVID-19 in Modesto area
Tuesday brought 11 more deaths and 557 new cases as Stanislaus County continued its grim battle with COVID-19. A regional index of ICU capacity was at zero yet again.
Stanislaus has now lost 544 residents to the pandemic since spring, the county Health Services Agency said. It reported that 31,106 people have tested positive, 282,950 have tested negative and 26,338 are presumed recovered.
The 128 deaths reported in the last 30 days is nearly a quarter of all deaths reported since the pandemic’s start.
The county’s five hospitals had 347 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday. That was down from 363 on Monday but still nearly 10 times the typical daily count in early fall.
A stay-home order has been in place since Dec. 6 in Stanislaus and 11 other counties in the San Joaquin Valley Region. It took effect after available intensive-care beds for adults fell below 15% of the total. That index was at zero for the fifth straight day Tuesday.
The 14-day positivity rate was 14.81%, down from 14.88% the previous day. The seven-day rate was 15.26%, down from 16.8%. The infection rate through 21 days of December is 15.36%. In November, it was a little over 10%.
The demographic breakdowns of the positive tests as of Tuesday:
- 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 11,239 positive cases
- Turlock has 4,257
- Ceres has 3,308
- Patterson has 1,526
- Riverbank has 1,413
- Oakdale has 931
- Newman has 692
- Waterford has 354
- Hughson has 288
- Supervisorial District 3 has 1,606
- District 5 has 1,564
- District 2 has 1,323
- District 1 has 711
- District 4 has 207
- San Joaquin County has 592 COVID-19-related deaths among 39,304 cases.
- Merced County has 225 deaths among 17,111 cases
- Tuolumne County has 2,569 cases and 20 deaths.
- Mariposa County has 205 cases and four deaths.
As of Tuesday evening, there were 1,964,863 confirmed cases in California and 23,306 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. There were 18,237,191 U.S. cases and 322,849 deaths.
United Samaritans suspends services
The United Samaritans Foundation on Monday shut down all of its services, including its mobile lunch program, because one employee tested positive for COVID-19.
County reels from coronavirus deaths
Stanislaus County is reporting eight coronavirus deaths per day, as local hospitals are filled with sick patients and many residents ignore a stay-home order in the days leading up to Christmas.
Jobless rate might be misleading
Unemployment numbers in Stanislaus County dropped to 8.3% in November, marking another month of decrease since the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Restaurants vary on complying with order
When Cheng Her and his business partner, Nicholas Vang, bought Modesto Sukiyaki almost a year ago, they expected challenges because they were new to the restaurant industry. But they did not expect a pandemic that has been a public health and economic disaster.
Hear Bee’s health reporter, editor on vaccines
Modesto Bee editor Brian Clark and health reporter Dr. ChrisAnna Mink conducted an online Q&A about COVID-19 vaccines on Monday.
Free money part of the RAD Card program
Everyone could use a little free money this time of year. And now the RAD Card is going to give Stanislaus County residents even more just in time for the holidays.
Local health workers get first vaccines
Denis Garrison, a supervising surgical nurse at Oak Valley Hospital, was among the first health care workers Friday in Stanislaus County to be immunized with the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines.
Modesto nurses say staffing ratios are ‘not safe’
Nurses at two Kaiser Permanente hospitals in the Northern San Joaquin Valley are protesting a state executive decision to allow more flexible nurse-to-patient ratios as medical centers struggle with the coronavirus pandemic.
Stanislaus County’s COVID death rate among worst
Stanislaus County has the third highest death rate per capita in California from the coronavirus outbreak, according to a statewide tracking system.
From around the state, nation and world
The coronavirus has made its way to Antarctica, which had been the last continent without any positive cases, according to Chile officials.
Congress passed the long-awaited second coronavirus relief package that includes assistance to those hit hard — families, businesses, the unemployed — by the economic crisis caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Just because you test negative for COVID-19 in the days prior to your Christmas celebrations doesn’t mean you are clear of coronavirus infection, experts say.
This story was originally published December 23, 2020 at 4:27 AM.
