Coronavirus update, Jan. 14: Stanislaus surpasses 700 deaths, 40,000 positive tests
Latest facts on COVID-19 in Modesto area
Stanislaus County surged past 700 deaths to COVID-19 and 40,000 cases Wednesday.
The 10 deaths announced by the Health Services Agency brought the total to 709 residents since last April. January has had 93 deaths and is on a pace to exceed the 188 in December, the worst month so far.
The county added 543 positive tests for the virus Wednesday, putting the total at 40,252. Stanislaus also has 340,363 negative test results and 35,042 residents who are presumed to have recovered from the virus.
The county’s five hospitals had 331 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, down from 343 on Tuesday. There were four available staffed intensive care unit beds, the most in a week.
A stay-at-home order has been in place since Dec. 6 because of tight ICU capacity in Stanislaus and 11 other counties in the San Joaquin Valley Region. The threshold to get out of the order is a projection of 15%. Through Tuesday, the San Joaquin and Southern California regions were at 0%. The Bay Area was at 4.7%, the Sacramento area at 9.4% and the rest of Northern California at 17.6%.
Based on future projections, Gov. Gavin Newsom lifted the monthlong order in the Sacramento Region, citing the stabilization of the 13-county area’s ICU capacity.
Stanislaus’ rolling seven-day positive rate was at 20.67% and the 14-day rate at 18.84%. Both were up from Tuesday.
Information regarding vaccinations in Stanislaus County is on the county dashboard at http://schsa.org/coronavirus/vaccine/.
As of Wednesday, 25,225 doses have been allocated to the county – 16,215 to healthcare providers and 9,010 to public health. The numbers do not include federal allocations to staff and residents at nursing care facilities and some provided directly to hospital systems.
The county is vaccinating residents considered to be in Phase 1A, Tiers 1, 2 and 3, which includes community health workers, public health field staff, in-home supportive services and dental and oral health clinics, among others. There were no immediate details on how many vaccinations were given and what percentage of those offered in Phase 1A, Tiers 1 and 2 were immunized.
There are three groupings, or tiers, of residents or worker classifications in Phase 1A, two in Phase 1B and one in Phase 1C.
The demographic breakdowns of the positive tests in Stanislaus County as of Wednesday:
- 53.9% are female
- 46.1% male
- 7.6% are 14 years or younger
- 16.4% are ages 15 to 24
- 19.7% are 25 to 34
- 17.5% are 35 to 44
- 15% are 45 to 54
- 12% are 55 to 64
- 6.5% are 65 to 74
- 3.4% are 75 to 84
- 1.9% are 85 or older.
- Though they make up 47 percent of the population, Latinos represented 63.7 percent of the positive cases.
Geographically:
- Modesto has 14,410 positive cases
- Turlock has 5,383
- Ceres has 4,172
- Patterson has 1,962
- Riverbank has 1,803
- Oakdale has 1,223
- Newman has 888
- Waterford has 473
- Hughson has 410
- Supervisorial District 3 has 2,057
- District 5 has 1,930
- District 2 has 1,644
- District 1 has 905
- District 4 has 293
- San Joaquin County has 736 COVID-19-related deaths among 54,796 cases.
- Merced County has 287 deaths among 22,932 cases.
- Tuolumne County has 3,270 cases and 36 deaths.
- Mariposa County has 331 cases and four deaths.
As of Thursday morning, there were 2,843m062 confirmed cases in California and 31,684 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. There were 23,078,350 U.S. cases and 384,784 deaths.
Seniors move ahead in vaccine line
The state changed its guidelines Wednesday to give seniors age 65 and older a priority for COVID-19 vaccinations. Except for those in the highest priority groups, the availability of shots to protect residents against COVID-19 remained scarce in Stanislaus County.
Modesto bus system downsizes
Modesto Area Express has reduced how often its buses run by about 25 percent in response to having fewer workers on the job because of COVID-19 and for other reasons.
UC campuses plan to be live in fall
The University of California plans to return to a system-wide, largely in-person instructional model in the fall of 2021, according to a statement from the school president.
COVID-19 is challenge for hospital chaplain in Modesto
Jeremy Brown, a chaplain at Doctors Medical Center in Modesto, California, is able to slow down and make sure people are getting the spiritual support they need.
Stanislaus reports first child death
Stanislaus County’s top health official said Tuesday the county received the first report of a child who died from COVID-19.
Turlock nonprofit aids grieving families
Jessica’s House in Turlock launched a dedicated support group for families grieving a loved one due to COVID-19 last fall.
Funeral homes see high demand
COVID-19 is exerting pressure on local funeral homes that are trying to keep up with requests for funeral arrangements.
Businesses, nonprofits can get grants
Stanislaus County small businesses can take advantage of a new statewide COVID-19 relief grant program that will pay out $500 million to businesses and nonprofits across California.
From around the state, nation and world
Online review site Yelp has rolled out a new tool for diners to rate restaurants on face masks and social distancing, for both employees and customers.
Everyone who gets a COVID-19 vaccine will be given what health officials call “second-dose reminder” cards. But don’t worry, if you lose your vaccination record card you can still get your second dose.
Dollar General says it won’t require employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine, but it will pay those who choose to do so.
