Coronavirus: San Joaquin County, California cases plummet in sign COVID surge may be waning

Mike Stucka
·4 min read

San Joaquin County reported 6,198 new coronavirus cases and six deaths in the week ending Sunday, a sharp drop from a week earlier, when the county had reported 14,997 cases and 38 deaths.

California also reported far fewer coronavirus cases in the past week, though many counties did not report during data during the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, disrupting the current and previous weeks’ statistics. Week-to-week comparisons are skewed and these numbers will be unreliable even as they’re accurate to what states and counties reported.

California's public health reporting during the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend was particularly low, with fewer than half the state's population being represented in that Sunday's reports.

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Throughout the pandemic, San Joaquin County has reported 146,726 cases and 1,960 deaths.

Nearby Calaveras County reported 301 cases and two deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 627 cases and zero deaths. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 6,006 cases and 95 deaths.

California reported 562,431 new cases in the week ending Sunday. That's down 34.8% from the previous week's tally of 862,078 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.

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California ranked 30th 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 14.9% from the week before, with 4,770,122 cases reported. With 11.87% of the country's population, California had 11.79% of the country’s cases in the last week. Across the country, 27 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.

Across California, cases fell in 57 counties, with the best declines in Los Angeles County, with 236,595 cases from 290,059 a week earlier; in San Bernardino County, with 20,901 cases from 47,267; and in San Diego County, with 72,148 cases from 97,036.

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Latest COVID-19 vaccine data

California ranked 9th among states in share of people receiving at least one shot, with 86% of its residents at least partially vaccinated. The national rate is 75.5%, a USA TODAY analysis of CDC data shows. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which are the most used in the United States, require two doses administered a few weeks apart.

In the week ending Sunday, California reported administering another 1,255,517 vaccine doses, including 488,299 first doses. In the previous week, the state administered 1,049,000 vaccine doses, including 291,585 first doses. In all, California reported it has administered 69,887,601 total doses.

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Within California, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Los Angeles County with 2,357 cases per 100,000 per week; San Diego County with 2,161; and Kern County with 1,668. 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 236,595 cases; San Diego County, with 72,148 cases; and Orange County, with 50,875.

In California, 842 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 718 people were reported dead.

A total of 7,691,930 people in California have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 78,616 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 70,700,678 people have tested positive and 866,540 people have died.

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California's COVID-19 hospital admissions staying flat

USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, Jan. 23.

Likely COVID-19 patients admitted in the state:

  • Last week: 18,253

  • The week before that: 18,250

  • Four weeks ago: 6,086

Likely COVID-19 patients admitted in the nation:

  • Last week: 188,864

  • The week before that: 197,883

  • Four weeks ago: 99,261

Hospitals in 25 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 22 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 30 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.

This article originally appeared on The Record: Coronavirus latest: SJ COVID cases fall 58% as California surge wanes