Coronavirus update, Feb. 4: Stanislaus hospitals ease again. Vaccines in Oakdale
Another six Stanislaus County residents have died of COVID-19, raising the total to 848 as of Wednesday.
The county Health Services Agency added 284 new cases, for a total of 46,749. Stanislaus also has 396,588 negative test results and 43,434 people who are presumed recovered from the virus.
The county’s five hospitals had 218 confirmed COVID-19 patients Wednesday, down from 222 on Tuesday and continuing a steady decline from well over 300 a month ago. Available ICU beds for adults rose to seven from five.
The seven-day rolling positivity rate was 11.36%, down from 13.25%. The 14-day rate was 13.3%, down from 13.78%.
Over the last seven days, Stanislaus County’s infection rate per 100,000 residents ranks 13st highest among the state’s 58 counties and rate of death is 16th, according to the Los Angeles Times COVID-19 tracker. Its overall death rate per 100,000 residents remains fourth in the state. Its infection rate per 100,000 residents is 16th.
A long-term projection of easing ICU capacity prompted Gov. Gavin Newsom on Jan. 25 to lift the stay-home order in the 12-county San Joaquin Valley Region. Stanislaus remains in the purple tier, the most restrictive for business and gatherings.
As of Wednesday, 41,200 doses of the coronavirus vaccine have been allocated to Stanislaus County, unchanged for several days. This includes 19,660 doses to health care providers and 21,540 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.
One of the four Stanislaus County vaccination centers will open today – in Oakdale at the Gladys L. Lemmons Senior Community Center, 450 East A Street, from 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
On Friday, just two sites will be open – in Modesto at Modesto Centre Plaza at 1000 L Street from 9 a.m.-5 p.m and in Patterson at Creekside Middle School at 535 Peregrine Drive from 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
The Modesto Centre Plaza site is only for second doses. The others are only for first doses.
Information regarding vaccinations in Stanislaus County is on the county dashboard at http://schsa.org/coronavirus/vaccine/.
California has administered 3,671,316 vaccines as of Wednesday, up from 3,543,817 on Tuesday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tracker. The state ranks 35th in the country, having administered 9,292 doses per 100,000 residents. Alaska ranks first, Idaho 50th among the states.
Here are the demographic breakdowns of the positive tests in Stanislaus County as of Wednesday:
- 53.6% are female
- 46.4% male
- 8% are 14 years or younger
- 16.4% are ages 15 to 24
- 19.5% are 25 to 34
- 17.3% are 35 to 44
- 14.9% are 45 to 54
- 11.9% are 55 to 64
- 6.6% 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 17,115 positive cases
- Turlock has 6,251
- Ceres has 4,870
- Patterson has 2,309
- Riverbank has 2,115
- Oakdale has 1,453
- Newman has 1,060
- Waterford has 545
- Hughson has 507
- Supervisorial District 3 has 2,418
- District 5 has 2,253
- District 2 has 1,922
- District 1 has 1,080
- District 4 has 338
- San Joaquin County has 874 COVID-19-related deaths among 62,890 cases.
- Merced County has 359 deaths among 26,914 cases.
- Tuolumne County has 3,633 cases and 50 deaths.
- Mariposa County has 373 cases and five deaths.
As of Thursday morning, there were 3,368,281 confirmed cases in California and 42,484 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. There were 26,559,014 U.S. cases and 450,826 deaths.
Modesto caps restaurant delivery fees
Modesto is temporarily capping how much Grubhub, DoorDash and other delivery services can charge restaurants to help them survive in the new coronavirus pandemic.
The latest on Stanislaus vaccinations
Federal, state and county leaders continue to work on ways of vaccinating the public against COVID-19, as coronavirus case numbers trend in the right direction.
One high school league issues schedule
With the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section announcing last week that each league is responsible for creating its sports schedules for the rest of the year, the Central California Athletic League released its on Tuesday.
Some schools balk at reopening money
The deadline has arrived for school districts to apply for the $2 billion in grants Gov. Gavin Newsom wants the state to set aside to help them safely return to in-person instruction. In Stanislaus County, though, not all districts are pursuing the funding, and even among some that are, there’s caution.
Modesto bus company preserves 400 jobs
Storer Coachways of Modesto had to cut about 400 of its employees when COVID-19 idled the tour bus business last spring. No problem. They are back at work in mobile testing and vaccinations against this very same virus.
How to cure Stanislaus’ ailing economy
Stanislaus County’s successful economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic will depend on meeting vaccination and economic goals in the first few months of the year, according to a study from California State University, Stanislaus.
Denair arms parents with mental health resources
Denair Unified School District is piloting a program of teaching parents how to recognize and support mental health issues for their children, using videoconferencing with Dr. Neha Chaudhary, a child, adolescent and adult psychiatrist at Harvard Medical School and Stanford University.
Stapley: Why we reported on rule-breaking eatery
Some people were surprised — and a little disturbed — to see a recent Modesto Bee “Business Beat” column featuring a new restaurant serving diners indoor and out, in clear violation of then-COVID public safety rules (as of Monday, it’s OK to dine outdoors).
From around the state, nation and world
If a high school football season doesn’t happen in this spring in California, or any number of other sports, really, it won’t be for a lack of effort.
An order requiring $4 “hero pay” raises for some grocery workers will cost a California city two of its supermarkets, a national chain announced.
With at least three more contagious variants of the coronavirus spreading in the U.S., infectious diseases experts are debating if it’s time to mandate medical-grade or double masks in the country.