Coronavirus Update, Feb. 7: Hospitalizations reach their lowest number since November
Stanislaus County hospitalizations tied to COVID-19 fell below 200 for the first time since November, according to data released Saturday.
The county’s five hospitals reported 197 confirmed patients with the coronavirus, including 42 in intensive care, in their five facilities. On Nov. 30, there were a reported 196 patients. On Friday, there were 223.
The number of staffed adult ICU beds grew to eight on Saturday, up from five the day before.
The county reported four more deaths, leaving it with 861 deaths – and 33 reported in February – related to the coronavirus since its first reported fatality in April.
Stanislaus had 303 new positive tests Saturday, for a total of 47,479. The county also has 406,481 negative test results and 44,284 people who are presumed recovered from the virus.
The seven-day rolling positivity rate was 11.03%, down from 11.84%. The 14-day rate was 13.02%, down from 13.51%. The single-day rate of 8.67% was the third time in the last five days it’s dipped below 10%.
Still, over the last seven days, Stanislaus County’s infection rate per 100,000 residents ranks fourth highest among the state’s 58 counties and its rate of death is 13th, 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 Saturday, 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.
Information regarding vaccinations in Stanislaus County is on the county dashboard at http://schsa.org/coronavirus/vaccine/.
California has administered 4,137,600 vaccines as of Saturday, up from 3,920,632 on Friday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tracker. The state ranks 40th in the country, having administered 10,472 doses per 100,000 residents. Alaska ranks first, Alabama 50th among the states.
Here are the demographic breakdowns of the positive tests in Stanislaus County as of Saturday:
- 53.6% are female
- 46.4% male
- 8% are 14 years or younger
- 16.4% are ages 15 to 24
- 19.4% are 25 to 34
- 17.3% are 35 to 44
- 14.9% are 45 to 54
- 12% 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 17,357 positive cases
- Turlock has 6,376
- Ceres has 4,910
- Patterson has 2,321
- Riverbank has 2,157
- Oakdale has 1,485
- Newman has 1,074
- Waterford has 554
- Hughson has 512
- Supervisorial District 3 has 2,448
- District 5 has 2,271
- District 2 has 1,959
- District 1 has 1,094
- District 4 has 344
- San Joaquin County has 893 COVID-19-related deaths among 63,619 cases.
- Merced County has 362 deaths among 27,134 cases.
- Tuolumne County has 3,660 cases and 51 deaths.
- Mariposa County has 378 cases and five deaths.
As of Sunday morning, there were 3,408,241 confirmed cases in California and 43,991 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. There were 26,919,361 U.S. cases and 462,181 deaths.
Teachers want vaccine so Stanislaus schools can open
Momentum to reopen Stanislaus County schools after the coronavirus surge raises a thorny question about vaccinating teachers and other employees.
Single-dose vaccine could be coming
Johnson and Johnson filed a request for Emergency Use Authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for their COVID-19 vaccine developed at their Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies. If approved, this would become the third vaccine, but the only single-dose product, available in the U.S. to combat the coronavirus.
Another Modesto attraction returns
Anyone looking for outdoor family activities during the pandemic will have a new option soon, when Boomers Park in Modesto re-opens on Friday, Feb. 5.
Sutter Health expands vaccinations
Sutter Health on Thursday expanded its COVID-19 vaccinations to patients who are age 65 or older. It had previously limited coronavirus vaccine appointments to health workers and older seniors 75 and older.
Some Ceres students will return
Starting Feb. 16, Ceres Unified School District will bring back to campuses small cohorts of those seventh- through 12th-grade students struggling most with distance learning.
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.
From around the state, nation and world
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said Saturday it will issue revised guidelines for indoor church services after the Supreme Court lifted the state’s ban on indoor worship during the coronavirus pandemic, but left in place restrictions on singing and chanting.
The L.A. schools superintendent and the head of the teachers union have responded with outrage over an L.A. City Councilman’s proposal to sue the school system to force campuses to reopen — and also are taking on others after a week of intensifying pressure to swiftly restore in-person classes.
