Coronavirus update, Dec. 27: December could become Stanislaus County’s deadliest month
Latest facts on COVID-19 in Modesto area
Stanislaus County is nearing its single-month high for deaths related to the coronavirus after reporting seven more on Saturday.
The total covered two days of reporting, which also included 967 more positive cases, according to the Health Services Agency’s COVID dashboard.
The 144 deaths in December are eight short of the 152 reported in August. That was followed by 103 more in September followed by a combined 63 in October and November.
The county has the highest rate of deaths per 100,000 residents in the state over the past seven days and the third overall rate per 100,000, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The number of confirmed COVID patients being cared for in Stanislaus County health care facilities totaled 340, up from 324 on Christmas. Until Saturday, it had seen decreases the past four days.
There are six available staffed adult intensive care unit beds, down from seven the day before.
The state’s stay-at-home order announced three weeks ago, impacting regions whose available ICU bed count falls below 15%, is likely to be extended this week, Gov. Gavin Newsom said.
The San Joaquin Valley and Southern California regions have been at 0% for the last several days.
The county saw both its 14-day rolling positivity rate (16.47%) and seven-day rate (15.68) tick slightly upward over the past day.
Merced’s 14-day rate is 19.2%, San Joaquin’s 17.4% and Tuolumne’s 34.1%.
There have been 32,881 positive test results, 295,121 negative test results and 27,979 people who are presumed recovered from the virus.
The demographic breakdowns of the positive tests in Stanislaus County as of Friday:
- 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 11,652 positive cases
- Turlock has 4,441
- Ceres has 3,457
- Patterson has 1,593
- Riverbank has 1,463
- Oakdale has 971
- Newman has 714
- Waterford has 367
- Hughson has 304
- Supervisorial District 3 has 1,668
- District 5 has 1,609
- District 2 has 1,370
- District 1 has 731
- District 4 has 218
- San Joaquin County has 618 COVID-19-related deaths among 41,104 cases.
- Merced County has 232 deaths among 17,785 cases.
- Tuolumne County has 2,704 cases and 21 deaths.
- Mariposa County has 219 cases and four deaths.
As of Sunday morning, there were 2,123,125 confirmed cases in California and 24,225 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. There were 18,986,062 U.S. cases and 331,929 deaths.
Nursing homes in Stanislaus County to get vaccine
CVS Pharmacy is beginning a vaccine rollout starting, bringing coronavirus vaccinations to residents and staff members in nursing homes in Stanislaus County.
Turlock florist’s donations get celebrity push
Heidi Sisco hoped to get 30 to 40 donations to send some holiday joy to residents of Turlock nursing homes. With some unexpected celebrity assistance, she’s delivering 500 poinsettias.
How four downtowns are coping
When Jennifer Brannon and her husband took over Lightly Used Books in downtown Turlock in January, they didn’t expect their first few months of operations to be upended by the COVID-19 pandemic.
DMC nurses picket over patient ratios
Members of the California Nurses Association held a shift-change action Wednesday morning outside Doctors Medical Center to challenge state-approved waivers allowing hospitals to bypass California’s safe staffing regulations during the coronavirus pandemic.
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.
From around the state, nation and world
Doctors, nurses and the elderly rolled up their sleeves across the European Union to receive the first doses of the coronavirus vaccine Sunday in a symbolic show of unity and moment of hope for a continent confronting its worst health care crisis in a century.
In Pakistan, more than 100 health workers, vaccinators and security officials involved in polio vaccination have been killed since 2012. The violence is an extreme example of the difficulties many poor and developing countries across Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America face as they tackle the monumental task of vaccinating their populations against COVID-19.
President-elect Joe Biden Saturday demanded President Donald Trump sign the $900 billion coronavirus stimulus bill and a year-end spending bill to keep the government from shutting down.
This story was originally published December 27, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
