Coronavirus Update, Jan. 17, 2021: Infections, deaths continue stark post-holiday climb
Latest facts on COVID-19 in Modesto area
Stanislaus County’s aggressive vaccination approach is coming just in nick of time.
Another nine deaths and 655 positive tests results were reported on Saturday, according to the county dashboard.
The county on Saturday said it would be opening a second vaccination center at Stanislaus State on Tuesday, and that its current Scenic Drive site that opened last week would be moved to the more patient-friendly Modesto Centre Plaza on L Street in downtown. It opens Monday morning.
The news Saturday came as the state released its latest figures, through Friday, of a single-day positivity rate for the county at 22.82%. It sent the 14-day rolling rate to 19.42%, slightly above the day before but well head of the state’s decreasing 12.6% rate.
Stanislaus County’s current 14-day rate is a 4% increase over the previous 14 days, in line with what local health officials predicted from the fallout of the Christmas and New Year’s Day holidays. San Joaquin County’s 14-day rate is 16.3%, up 1%, Merced’s is 27.1%, up 8.4% and Tuolumne County’s is 19.5%, down 7.4%.
The 123 deaths in the county since Dec. 31, and the 63 since Sunday, leave the county with the fifth highest death rate per 100,000 residents in the last seven days among the county’s 58 counties. The county’s infection rate per 100,000 residents over the last seven days is 22nd highest.
Friday’s single-day positivity rate of 22.82% mirrors that of the last four days.
The county’s positive tests for the virus Friday brings to 41,925 the total since its first case in March. Stanislaus has 351,566 negative test results and 36,126 residents who are presumed recovered.
The county’s five hospitals had 303 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, down from 339 on Friday. There were three available staffed intensive unit care beds Saturday afternoon, down from five.
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%. As of Saturday, the San Joaquin and Southern California regions were at 0%. The Bay Area was at 3.4%, the Sacramento area at 6.2% and the rest of Northern California at 24%.
Based on future projections, Gov. Gavin Newsom lifted the month-long order in the Sacramento Region, citing the stabilization of the 13-county area’s ICU capacity.
As of Saturday, 33,850 doses of the coronavirus vaccine have been allocated to the county, up from 25,225 the previous day. Of those, 18,960 were to health care providers and 14,890 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 and Phase 1B, Tier 1, which includes those over the ages of 65, community health workers, public health field staff, in-home supportive services and dental and oral health clinics, among others.
There are three groupings, or tiers, of residents or worker classifications in Phase 1A, two in Phase 1B and one in Phase 1C.
Information regarding vaccinations in Stanislaus County is on the county dashboard at http://schsa.org/coronavirus/vaccine/.
The demographic breakdowns of the positive tests in Stanislaus County as of Friday:
- 53.7% are female
- 46.3% male
- 7.7% are 14 years or younger
- 16.5% 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 15,116 positive cases
- Turlock has 5,569
- Ceres has 4,354
- Patterson has 2,077
- Riverbank has 1,878
- Oakdale has 1,283
- Newman has 942
- Waterford has 488
- Hughson has 433
- Supervisorial District 3 has 2,159
- District 5 has 2,011
- District 2 has 1,699
- District 1 has 40
- District 4 has 308
- San Joaquin County has 748 COVID-19-related deaths among 56,484 cases.
- Merced County has 296 deaths among 23,492 cases.
- Tuolumne County has 3,304 cases and 38 deaths.
- Mariposa County has 343 cases and four deaths.
As of Sunday morning, there were 2,959,863 confirmed cases in California and 33,408 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. There were 23,760,080 U.S. cases and 395,851 deaths.
Modesto bus drivers honor deceased co-worker
Modesto Area Express bus drivers gathered Friday to honor a fellow bus driver who died from COVID-19, the first pandemic-related death among MAX employees.
Stanislaus County announces new COVID vaccination sites
New COVID-19 vaccine clinics opening in Stanislaus County: Modesto Centre Plaza & Turlock’s Stanislaus State. Residents 65 & health workers eligible.
Stanislaus athletes rally to reopen high school sports
Athletes, coaches, and parents rallied on Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, in Stanislaus County with the hope of having high school sports this year. One was at Downey.
Stanislaus 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.
Your pandemic guide to Girl Scout cookies
Any lack of cookie booths doesn’t mean lovers of Thin Mints, Peanut Butter Patties and the other varieties will be deprived. The cookies will be as close as a mouse click and the doorstep.
Celebrate the Rev. King on YouTube
Modesto-area admirers of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. can view an online version Monday of the usual birthday weekend tributes.
Another national retailer is closing in Modesto
Another national retailer is closing its doors and calling it quits in Modesto.
From around the state, nation and world
A California congressman contracted the coronavirus before he could get a second dose of vaccine that would have improved his immunity.
As of Friday, six states in the Southeast had among the nation’s lowest rates of vaccine doses administered, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Amid growing criticism that so few shots were getting into American arms, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services this week abruptly announced changes in the rules. Federal officials said they will stop holding back the second dose of vaccine for each person who gets a first shot.
