Stanislaus County reports 22 deaths due to COVID-19. Omicron surge is not over yet
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Stanislaus County public health reported 22 deaths from COVID-19 over a two-day period, as the omicron variant continued to spread illness to local residents.
But there was no definitive analysis of how many deaths were attributed to omicron or other variants of the COVID-19 virus.
A dozen deaths were recorded on the county’s dashboard Wednesday and 10 more were reported Thursday, raising the total number of COVID-19 deaths to 1,554 since April 2020.
A county spokesperson said nine of the deaths reported Wednesday occurred between November and January. The county usually has reported COVID-19 deaths as the virus is confirmed as the primary cause.
The 10 deaths recorded on the dashboard Thursday all occurred in January. The delta strain was circulating locally in December before the county’s first omicron infection was confirmed Dec. 29. Omicron took over as the dominant strain in January.
Of the deaths in January, eight were people older than 55 and two were between 25 and 54 years old.
Kamlesh Kaur, a public information officer for the county, said all of them had underlying medical conditions. Three of the deaths in the mortality numbers reported Wednesday and Thursday were fully vaccinated individuals, Kaur said.
County and state health officials have pushed for booster shots because of evidence of waning immunity more than five months after initial completion of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccinations. A booster shot is recommended two months after the single-dose Johnson and Johnson vaccination.
“We typically see more deaths following a surge of (COVID-19),” Kaur said in an email Thursday. Local health officials offered no projections on mortality numbers and couldn’t sort how many deaths reported this week were due to omicron or other variants.
According to a public health surveillance report, a total of 65 people died of COVID-19 between Dec. 1 and Jan. 22 in Stanislaus County. The report shows that 24 of the people who died were age 75 or older, 15 were ages 65 to 74, while 13 were 55 to 64 and another 13 were between 25 and 54 years old.
High infection rates in younger adults, children
The highly contagious omicron variant has caused skyrocketing cases of infection, especially in children, adolescents and younger adults.
Between Jan. 9 and Jan. 22, when 13,887 cases were recorded, about half the cases affected adults from 18 to 44 years old. Children zero to 17 years old accounted for 21.6 percent of cases. Adults 45 to 64 accounted for 21.2 percent of cases and seniors 65 and older accounted for 7.4 percent.
In Stanislaus County, rates of infection and hospitalization are declining.
The 7-day average case rate declined to 130.7 per 100,000, as of Wednesday, compared to 203 per 100,000 on Jan. 22.
COVID hospitalizations in local medical facilities reached a high of 292 on Jan. 25 before falling to 236, as of Thursday, with 41 COVID-positive patients in intensive care units.
Statewide, the California Department of Public Health reported 12,643 hospital admissions related to COVID-19, down from 15,000-plus in a week’s time.
This story was originally published February 4, 2022 at 7:24 AM.
