A Death Due to COVID-19 And Highest Number of Active Cases In 4.5 Months

ActiveCOVID19CasesMarch_mid-July2021

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Tuolumne County has 34 known covid infected individuals actively isolating which is the most the county has seen since the end of February 2021. Of the 76 new Covid-19 cases since June 15 more than a third, a total of 28 cases have been identified since last Friday.

Tuolumne County Interim Public Health Officer, Dr. Eric Sergienko says Tuolumne has not confirmed any additional cases of the Delta Variant of Covid but notes, “I honestly think that is because our sequencing is lagging behind our test results. I anticipate that over the next week or so we will get results back that will indicate that we have more Delta cases here.” Dr. Sergienko notes about 60-percent of cases that are being sequenced in California now are identified as the Delta Variant of Coivd-19. He added the currently available vaccines have demonstrated they are 85 to 88-percent effective at preventing individuals from getting the Delta Variant, and effective at preventing them from infecting others and also greatly reduce the chances they will need hospitalization “by orders of magnitude than a person who is not vaccinated.”

Sergienko also weighed in on the new guidance for schools stating, “It has a lot of positives for keeping kids in the classroom” he noted the Center for Disease Control (CDC) does promote extra layers of protection for places at higher risk which is in line with the California Department of Health’s new mask guidelines for schools related to the increasing spread of the Delta Variant in San Francisco, Southern California and in schools which will be starting in August. Sergienko emphasized the plan is to start the school year with a mask requirement but the requirement will be reviewed and may be eliminated. He detailed other aspects of the guidance reduce social distancing and allow for shorter quarantine times of students in specific situations as detailed of CDPH’s website here. Dr. Sergienko emphasized that California’s projections, if current vaccination and infection rates remain steady, things will be fine until mid-August when there will be a significant surge that will strain hospitals for bed space. The surge is not predicted to be as bad as in December and January and he is looking into what level of Covid-19 case rate may trigger a mask mandate recommendation like those in L.A. County now. He stresses increasing the percentage of individuals who are vaccinated is the most effective way to bring case rates down.

Tuolumne County — Tuolumne County Public Health sadly reports 70-year-old male who was hospitalized and passed away out of the county in April has been confirmed to have died from covid. There are a total of 73 deaths attributed to Covid in Tuolumne County since the pandemic began.

Since last Friday there have been 28 new cases and six were vaccinated (1 Moderna, 3 Pfizer, 2 Johnson & Johnson) and one was partially Pfizer vaccinated. Dr. Sergienko noted breakthrough cases are expected mentioning several of the new cases involved individuals with close, prolonged contact with infected individuals and if the vaccines did not work at all the number of vaccinated cases would be about half or 14.

A total of 34 cases are isolating, three are hospitalized down from five last week. The case rate per 100,000 increased from 4 to 5.7 and recoveries increased 16.

Tuolumne County has a total of 4,199 cases split between 2,776 community cases and 1,423 Sierra Conservation Center (SCC) inmate cases with no active cases there as reported by the California Department of Corrections. Last week (Friday to Friday) there were 12 new cases reported and 9 released from isolation.

Total community cases released from isolation is 2,696 and the total number of tests administered is 100,610. The county reports 20,073 fully vaccinated residents and 3,589 individuals partially vaccinated.

Calaveras County – The Calaveras public health reported yesterday 3 new cases today and a total of 23 since last Friday, with the county’s total Covid cases at 2,256. Active cases increased to 17 total and recoveries increased 25 to 2,181 total. No Calaveras residents are hospitalized with Covid. The total number of people over 65 years old identified with Covid is 460 since the pandemic began. Calaveras reports 38,451 vaccinations given. From June 4th to June 11th, the last time we reported numbers, there were 7 new cases and 11 released from isolation and 2,201 total Covid cases 55 less than reported this Friday meaning 41.8-percent of the cases in the past month have happened this week.

Vaccines – Upcoming Covid clinics in Tuolumne are Friday, July 23. In Tuolumne, Calaveras, and Mariposa schedule an appointment for a Covid vaccine by going to myturn.ca.gov. You can also call 833-422-4255. If you have questions about MyTurn and the registration process, please call the Tuolumne Health Department at 533-7440 or email Health@tuolumnecounty.ca.gov. More about the Calaveras Vaccination Van is here. Vaccine eligibility is open to everyone 12+ (Pfizer) and 18+ (Moderna and Johnson & Johnson)  More information about the vaccines is here.

Testing – Sonora’s Covid testing is at the Tuolumne Memorial Hall. The hours are Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays from 7 AM to 7 PM.  Appointments are recommended, but walk-ins will be accepted. Please note that the site may close briefly for meal breaks. Appointments can be scheduled atwww.lhi.care/covidtesting or by calling 888-634-1123. Testing is also available through Rapid Care if you are experiencing any symptoms, contacting your healthcare provider, or at Rite-Aid.