Coronavirus Update, Feb. 8: Rise in infection rates tempers leveling hospitalizations
Editor’s Note: Vaccinations in Oakdale on Friday are first doses. Incorrect information appeared in an earlier version of this story.
Stanislaus County’s coronavirus infection rate continued along its fluctuating path with a slight rise on Sunday, tempering hospitalization numbers that appear to be leveling.
The single-day rate of 15.24% was the third highest in the last 11 days, according to state data. The seven-day rolling positivity rate was 11.75%, up from 11.03%. The 14-day rate was 13.23%, up from 13.02%.
Over the last seven days, Stanislaus County’s infection rate per 100,000 residents ranks 14th highest among the state’s 58 counties and its rate of death is 17th, 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.
The county’s five hospitals reported 198 patients with confirmed coronavirus cases, including 43 in intensive care. It was the first time since November the health care facilities have reported fewer than 200 COVID-19 patients for two consecutive days.
The number of staffed adult ICU beds remained unchanged from Saturday at eight.
The county reported zero deaths for the sixth straight Sunday, leaving it with 861 deaths – and 33 reported in February – related to the coronavirus since its first reported fatality in April.
Stanislaus had 225 new positive tests Sunday, for a total of 47,704. The county also has 408,992 negative test results and 44,441 people who are presumed recovered from the virus.
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.
Here is the Stanislaus County vaccination scheduled for this week:
- Modesto: Second dose only, Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Modesto Centre Plaza
- Turlock: Second dose only, Thursday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Stanislaus State University
- Oakdale: First dose only, Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Gladys Lemmons Community Center
- Patterson: Closed this week
As of Sunday, 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 4,485,166 vaccines as of Sunday night, up from 4,137,600 on Saturday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tracker. The state ranks 32nd in the country – up from 40th on Saturday – having administered 11,351 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 Sunday:
- 53.6% are female
- 46.4% male
- 8.1% 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 17,498 positive cases
- Turlock has 6,430
- Ceres has 4,910
- Patterson has 2,325
- Riverbank has 2,285
- Oakdale has 1,499
- Newman has 1,083
- Waterford has 556
- Hughson has 516
- Supervisorial District 3 has 2,458
- District 5 has 2,285
- District 2 has 1,985
- District 1 has 1,111
- District 4 has 347
- 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 379 cases and five deaths.
As of Monday morning, there were 3,417,982 confirmed cases in California and 44,155 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. There were 27,008,565 U.S. cases and 463,482 deaths.
How can county ensure Latinos can access vaccines?
As Latinos continue to experience the highest COVID-19 case rates in Stanislaus County, officials in the last week announced measures designed to ensure the most vulnerable can get vaccinated.
Modesto church leaders, worshippers share their thoughts
Modesto churches that already have been offering indoor worship services during the COVID-19 pandemic welcomed on Sunday the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling Friday that struck down the state’s prohibition of them.
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
An Ohio woman is facing several charges after police say she refused to put on a face mask in a grocery store — and then wouldn’t leave.
AstraZeneca’s vaccine against the novel coronavirus seems to have only a limited effect on a variation of the disease that originated in South Africa, according to a report in The Financial Times, which received an early look at the research.
This story was originally published February 8, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
