Coronavirus update, Jan. 15: Stanislaus reports 11 more deaths; hospital count stable
Latest facts on COVID-19 in Modesto area
Another 11 deaths reported Thursday brought Stanislaus County to 104 so far in January and 729 since the pandemic began.
December had been the deadliest full month, with 188 residents lost to COVID-19, but January is on a pace to exceed it.
The county, with 45 reported deaths since Sunday, has the fifth highest rate of fatalities among the state’s 58 counties over the last seven days, according to the Los Angeles Times tracker.
Counties within the so-called spine of the state – the Central Valley all the way down to Riverside County – make up for seven of the 10 worst counties in terms of overall deaths per 100,000 residents since the start of the pandemic.
The county added 443 positive tests for the virus Thursday, for a total of 40,695, the Health Services Agency reported. Stanislaus also has 343,752 negative test results and 35,526 residents who are presumed recovered.
Stanislaus County ranks 23rd in the rate of infection per 100,000 residents in the last seven days, the Times reported. Overall, the county is 19th since its first case in March.
The county’s five hospitals had 332 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, versus 331 on Wednesday. There were three available staffed intensive care unit beds, down from four.
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 21.05%, up from 20.67% the previous day. The 14-day rate was at 19.87%, up from 18.84%.
Information regarding vaccinations in Stanislaus County is on the county dashboard at http://schsa.org/coronavirus/vaccine/.
As of Thursday, 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 Thursday:
- 53.8% are female
- 46.2% male
- 7.6% are 14 years or younger
- 16.4% are ages 15 to 24
- 19.7% are 25 to 34
- 17.4% 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 14,703 positive cases
- Turlock has 5,444
- Ceres has 4,238
- Patterson has 2,026
- Riverbank has 1,840
- Oakdale has 1,242
- Newman has 905
- Waterford has 480
- Hughson has 418
- Supervisorial District 3 has 2,084
- District 5 has 1,962
- District 2 has 1,662
- District 1 has 917
- District 4 has 302
- San Joaquin County has 738 COVID-19-related deaths among 55,580 cases.
- Merced County has 290 deaths among 23,199 cases.
- Tuolumne County has 3,279 cases and 36 deaths.
- Mariposa County has 334 cases and four deaths.
As of Thursday morning, there were 2,883,669 confirmed cases in California and 32,318 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. There were 23,314,663 U.S. cases and 388,709 deaths.
Stanislaus County tries to open 3 more clinics
Stanislaus County officials said they are working to expand COVID-19 vaccinations for priority groups including seniors age 65 and older, as more vaccine is anticipated from the state.
Another national retailer is closing in Modesto
Another national retailer is closing its doors and calling it quits in Modesto.
Vaccines for seniors draw long line
Hundreds of people lined up outside the former Scenic General Hospital on Thursday morning, after those 65 and older were given priority in accessing the COVID-19 vaccine.
Thoughts on vaccines and Capitol riot
Times like these demand good leadership. Fortunately, we’ve seen some decent examples lately here in Stanislaus County. And sadly, we’ve seen the opposite, too.
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.
From around the state, nation and world
Millions of qualifying Californians would see additional stimulus payments of $1,400, and unemployed residents would have their payments boosted by $400 weekly through September under an economic plan unveiled Thursday by President-elect Joe Biden.
One of the Army’s chief scientists developing a COVID-19 vaccine often gets a question that is being asked by Americans across the country: Once a person is vaccinated, is it safe to visit parents and friends, or could they still infect them?
Users on TikTok are convinced an at-home remedy that requires charring an orange over an open flame and snacking on the flesh mixed with brown sugar can revive their sense of taste and smell after COVID-19 stripped them of it.
