Coronavirus

Coronavirus update, Dec. 25: Region’s ICUs full for 7th day. Stanislaus adds 9 deaths

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Latest facts on COVID-19 in Modesto area

Christmas Eve brought another nine deaths to COVID-19 in Stanislaus County and a seventh straight day of full intensive-care units.

The death toll stands at 565 as a December surge goes on in Stanislaus and elsewhere, the county Health Services Agency said.

Positive tests total 31,914 with the 346 added Thursday. Stanislaus has 289,287 negative tests and 27,257 people who are presumed recovered from the virus.

The county’s five hospitals had 327 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, down from 334 on Wednesday. It was the third straight decline but still nearly 10 times the count in early fall.

Most of California is under a stay-home order because of tight ICU capacity. It was triggered when available beds for adults fell below 15% of the total in a region.

The index remained at zero Thursday in the San Joaquin Valley Region, which takes in Stanislaus and 11 other counties. It has not moved in a week.

The 14-day positivity rate was 15.91%, up from 15.17% the previous day. The seven-day rate was 16.37%, up from 15.38%.

The demographic breakdowns of the positive tests as of Thursday:

  • 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 11,526 positive cases
  • Turlock has 4,401
  • Ceres has 3,409
  • Patterson has 1,570
  • Riverbank has 1,448
  • Oakdale has 963
  • Newman has 707
  • Waterford has 363
  • Hughson has 300
  • Supervisorial District 3 has 1,653
  • District 5 has 1,594
  • District 2 has 1,361
  • District 1 has 728
  • District 4 has 217

As of Friday morning, there were 2,044,130 confirmed cases in California and 23,955 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. There were 118,655,650 U.S. cases and 329,106 deaths.

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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

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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

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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.

From around the state, nation and world

House Republicans blocked a bill Thursday from Democrats that would have provided $2,000 stimulus checks to many Americans after President Donald Trump demanded the direct payments be increased from $600.

Even as some families bury relatives with whom they recently celebrated Thanksgiving, other families are planning for Christmas gatherings in the middle of a severe COVID-19 surge. It’s clear that no amount of death or data will ever be enough to convince some people to take this pandemic seriously.

The latest hand sanitizer recalled for possibly having methanol was not only sold at retail, but used in bottles carrying the labels of entities from the U.S. Census Bureau to a Texas roofing business.

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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