Coronavirus update: Monterey County COVID cases up 20.9% even as California cases fall

Mike Stucka USA TODAY NETWORK
·3 min read

Monterey County reported 683 new COVID-19 cases and one death in the latest week, a more than 20% increase from the week earlier, when it had reported 565 coronavirus cases and zero deaths. Throughout the pandemic, Monterey County has reported 113,881 cases and 761 deaths.

California reported far fewer coronavirus cases in the week ending Sunday, adding 63,268 new cases. That's down 11.1% from the previous week's tally of 71,190 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.

California ranked 21st among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week coronavirus cases in the United States decreased 17.1% from the week before, with 543,317 cases reported. With 11.87% of the country's population, California had 11.64% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, 16 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.

The Labor Day holiday may have altered how many people can get tested and when, and when governments report testing results and deaths. This will skew week-to-week comparisons.

Across California, cases fell in 14 counties, with the best declines in Los Angeles County, with 17,126 cases from 24,984 a week earlier; in San Diego County, with 4,444 cases from 5,425; and in Orange County, with 3,548 cases from 4,526.

>> See how your community has fared with recent coronavirus cases

Within California, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Mariposa County with 471 cases per 100,000 per week; Madera County with 292; and Tulare County with 287. The Centers for Disease Control says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.

Adding the most new cases overall were Los Angeles County, with 17,126 cases; San Bernardino County, with 4,962 cases; and San Diego County, with 4,444. Weekly case counts rose in 43 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Tulare, Fresno and Kern counties.

In California, 161 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 372 people were reported dead.

A total of 11,120,267 people in California have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 94,973 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 94,748,404 people have tested positive and 1,047,498 people have died.

>> Track coronavirus cases across the United States

California's COVID-19 hospital admissions staying flat

USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, Sept. 4.

Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:

  • Last week: 6,104

  • The week before that: 6,012

  • Four weeks ago: 6,882

Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:

  • Last week: 63,337

  • The week before that: 64,048

  • Four weeks ago: 71,125

Hospitals in 10 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 15 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 21 states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.

The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Salinas Californian: COVID surge: Monterey County sees increase in coronavirus cases