Fresno County COVID cases and transmission rate rising. Are statewide numbers decreasing?

The number of COVID-19 infections in Fresno County is growing at an extreme pace as the transmission rate climbs locally, according to state numbers reported Tuesday.

The county added 2,141 new cases Tuesday, increasing its total number of confirmed cases to 176,959, according to state numbers. That is 175.6 new cases per 100,000 residents in Fresno County on average for the past seven days. The rate grew from 125 cases per 100,000 residents on Friday.

The county reported one additional death related to COVID-19 on Tuesday, raising the county’s total number of deaths to 2,426.

Hospitals have been pushed to the brink, according to health officials, as both COVID-19 patients and people needing other forms of medical attention seek care.

There were 447 patients confirmed to have COVID in Fresno-area hospitals on Tuesday, and 24 patients believed to have the virus, according to state numbers. Of the hospitalized patients, 61 people in intensive care units have COVID-19 and three more are suspected to have it.

Statewide numbers stop climbing

The California Department of Public Health on Tuesday reported the daily case rate at 271 per 100,000 residents, down from 275 per 100,000 one day earlier and from an all-time record of 276 per 100,000 two days earlier.

Statewide test positivity has also fallen for the first time in weeks, reported at 21.1% Tuesday after peaking Jan. 10 at 23.1%.

California had 14,639 patients in hospital beds with confirmed COVID-19 on Monday, including 2,311 in intensive care units, up 24% and 27% from one week earlier, respectively.

Hospital leaders say California’s health care systems will likely be overwhelmed through February.

Health officials say vaccines continue to provide strong protection from severe illness for all known COVID-19 variants.

Unvaccinated residents were eight times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 and 21 times more likely to die of the virus than fully vaccinated people, according to the latest data available from CDPH.

California to date has recorded more than 6.8 million lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases, including more than 750,000 in the past week, and 77,306 virus deaths.

Home tests

People in the United States can now start ordering free at-home, rapid COVID-19 tests from the government.

President Joe Biden’s administration is purchasing 1 billion tests to be made available to people in the U.S. for free as the omicron coronavirus variant — which evades COVID-19 vaccines and transmits more easily — spreads throughout the country.

The first 500 million of those tests are now available online at COVIDTests.gov. The website opened Tuesday, a day earlier than expected.

Other Valley counties

Tulare County added 871 cases, which means the total number of confirmed cases since March 2020 rose to 81,741, the state said on Tuesday. The number of deaths did not change from the day before, staying at 1,199.

Merced County reported 345 more cases on Tuesday, bringing the total to 51,227 during the pandemic, according to the state. There have been 718 deaths.

Madera County has totaled 28,568 cases after adding 255 from the previous day. The number of COVID-related deaths in the county remained at 329, according to the state tally.

Kings County has 39,143 cases, which is 282 more than the previous day, state records show. The county’s total of 392 deaths remained unchanged from the day before.

Mariposa County counted 11 more cases, bringing its to total to 1,862, according to the state. No deaths were added to the total of six.

The Sacramento Bee contributed to this report.