Coronavirus update, Feb. 21: A comparison look at COVID deaths in Stanislaus County
Last summer, Stanislaus County illustrated the deadly impact of the coronavirus when it showed how it ranked among the Top 10 causes of death within its region each year.
It came during a time when some were comparing COVID-19 to nothing more than the flu.
It was only a small sample size when up against the 12-month measure of causes like heart disease, cancer, diabetes and unintentional causes. Now that it’s nearing a year since the first death related to the virus, its impact is becoming more clear.
Last week, the number of fatalities related to the coronavirus moved into No. 2, ahead of cancer and behind heart disease when weighed against the county’s annual number of deaths averaged from 2014 to 2018.
During that period, there were an average of 1,207 deaths each year related to heart disease, the county’s No. 1 cause of fatalities. No. 2 was cancer at an average of 895.
On Saturday, 10 months after the first COVID-19 fatality was announced, the county reported its 926th death, adding five to the total from a day before.
Tenth on the list with 89 average deaths a year was influenza/pneumonia.
The comparisons come as hospitalizations and infection rates continue their trend downward.
On Saturday, the single-day positivity rate was 7.95%, down from the previous day’s 8.24%, according to state data. The seven-day rolling rate was 7.53%, down from 7.93%. The 14-day rate was 8.7%, down from 8.75%.
The county’s five hospitals reported 120 patients with confirmed coronavirus cases Friday, down from 127 on Friday. The count was well over 300 at the worst of the winter surge in early January. The number of staffed adult ICU beds Saturday afternoon was at seven, down from 10.
The 164 new positive tests Saturday raised the total to 49,646. Stanislaus also has 437,225 negative test results and 47,351 people who are presumed recovered.
According to the Los Angeles Times COVID-19 tracker, Stanislaus County has the ninth-highest rate of infection per 100,000 residents in the last week among the state’s 58 counties. Its rate of death if 13th highest. Since the pandemic’s start, its infection rate is 15th highest and death rate fourth highest.
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, 77,310 doses of the coronavirus vaccine have been allocated to Stanislaus County, unchanged from Friday after the county announced weather issues in Texas and the east had stalled allocations. This includes 36,135 doses to health care providers and 41,175 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 has postponed next week’s community clinics because cold weather elsewhere slowed shipment of the Moderna vaccine. More information is on the county dashboard at http://schsa.org/coronavirus/vaccine/.
California has administered 7,201,713 vaccines as of Saturday, up from 6,964,603 on Friday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tracker. The state ranks 32nd in the country, having administered 18,227 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
- 8.2% are 14 years or younger
- 16.4% are ages 15 to 24
- 19.4% are 25 to 34
- 17.2% 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 18,259 positive cases
- Turlock has 6,714
- Ceres has 5,090
- Patterson has 2,408
- Riverbank has 2,299
- Oakdale has 1,603
- Newman has 1,115
- Waterford has 597
- Hughson has 546
- Supervisorial District 3 has 2,563
- District 5 has 2,370
- District 2 has 2,076
- District 1 has 1,159
- District 4 has 379
- San Joaquin County has 1,026 COVID-19-related deaths among 65,891 cases.
- Merced County has 388 deaths among 28,489 cases.
- Tuolumne County has 3,870 cases and 56 deaths.
- Mariposa County has 389 cases and seven deaths.
As of Sunday morning, there were 3,527,338 confirmed cases in California and 49,120 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. There were 28,078,638 U.S. cases and 497,670 deaths.
Cold weather elsewhere slows vaccines here
A continued shortage of COVID vaccine went from bad to worse Friday as Stanislaus County postponed additional community vaccine clinics until further notice.
The latest on high school football
High school football took a huge step in returning to California on Friday as the state’s Department of Public Health released new guidelines. Unfortunately, Stanislaus County doesn’t meet this criteria.
What you need to know about vaccines, COVID-19
The Modesto Bee’s ChrisAnna Mink, our children’s health reporter who also is a doctor in Southern California, was the guest on a podcast hosted by Jeffrey Lewis, CEO of the Turlock-based Legacy Health Endowment. Mink shared great updated information on all things COVID-19. If you have a few minutes, it’s worth a listen. Click here.
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Approaching one year since schools closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Waterford educators and parents got a chance to share with their congressman this week these and other experiences, concerns and successes.
Back to school in March sounds good if done right
Remaining weeks in the spring semester using the hybrid learning model — two days in school, three learning from home — should be viewed as a trial transition period for the fall for Stanislaus County.
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Stanislaus County middle, high schools aim for March reopening
A meeting of superintendents for school districts across Stanislaus County on Friday included a discussion of a timeline to reopen middle and high schools by the middle of March.
How to get help for your small business in Stanislaus County
As business struggle to stay afloat, local groups like the Valley Sierra Small Business Development Center and Stanislaus County Workforce Development are helping guide small business owners through the variety of federal and state programs available at no cost.
From around the state, nation and world
The British government announced Sunday that it aims to give every adult in the country a first dose of coronavirus vaccine by July 31, a month earlier than its previous target.
Serbia has received a first shipment of 150,000 AstraZeneca vaccines, adding to the three other vaccines already in use.
A pilot clinic geared toward vaccinating farm workers is underway in Yolo County, where health workers administered shots to about 200 farm workers at an organic farm known for growing asparagus, tomatoes and winter squash.
