1 Death 323 New Covid Cases In Tuolumne, 47 Cases In Calaveras

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Tuolumne County Public Health reports the death of a man in his 80s due to Covid-19. There are 323 new Covid-19 positive cases identified since Friday, 272 are community cases and 38 are Sierra Conservation Center inmate cases. The newly reported community cases include 53 cases age 17 or younger and 52 cases age 60 or older.

Tuolumne Public Health Officials state, “Due to the large number of cases we are experiencing, as well as changing definitions of vaccination status, we are discontinuing the reporting of vaccination status of cases on a daily basis.” They encourage the public to review vaccination and other COVID-related data on the State website. If you receive a positive test result, you will likely receive a text or email from a “Virtual Agent” that will provide information on what to do next. Health Officials say, “You can help slow the spread of Covid-19 by responding to texts, calls, or emails, and self-isolating when you have symptoms or a positive test result. Also notify any close contacts you’ve had from 2 days before you became ill or got tested. Any close contacts should follow current quarantine guidance and get tested 3-5 days after exposure. If you are at high risk of severe disease or hospitalization, you can contact your doctor to discuss potential treatment options. If you are not symptomatic, have not tested positive for COVID-19 recently, and are not in quarantine, get vaccinated or boosted.” Updated to the most recent Isolation & Quarantine guidelines the Tuolumne health order is here.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) reports 81 currently active inmate cases (includes reinfections, see below). Tuolumne County’s active community cases increased 215 to 447 including 10 people who are hospitalized. The state reports the 14-day average for Covid-19 hospitalized patients is 15 up 7.1% from the prior day’s 14-day average. The state also reports one ICU bed available in Tuolumne County out of six.

The new Covid cases by gender and age: 11 girls and 18 boys age 11 or younger, 13 girls and 11 boys age 12 to 17, 23 women and 18 men age 18 to 29, 29 women and 18 men in their 30s, 23 women and 22 men in their 40s, 20 women and 14 men in their 50s, 15 women and nine men in their 60s, 12 women and 11 men in their 70s, three women and one man in their 80s, and one woman over 90.

There have been 1,686 inmate cases at the Sierra Conservation Center, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) reports the SCC manages 3,213 inmates with 82% vaccinated including all the southern fire conservation camps and has tested 52% of the prison’s population in the past 14 days. There are 70 staff members with Covid an increase of 16 out of 1,170. There is a 56% vaccination rate reported among the staff.

The total current case rate, a 14-day average for Tuolumne County increased to 98.4 from 71.6 per 100,000 population. The case rate reached a low of 15.1 on December 17th. A total of 54 individuals were released from isolation, in all 6,789 have been released from isolation. The number of active cases has been above 60 since near the end of July, the first three Delta cases were identified July 2nd active cases peaked August 16th at 407, with the lowest active cases since July being 62 on November 29th. The county sends samples from residents for sequencing which takes time, so far the Omicron Covid-19 variant has not been detected yet. A total of 59% of the population eligible to get vaccinated has been vaccinated.

Calaveras County Public Health reports 47 new cases since yesterday. There are three fewer active cases for a total of 70 active cases including two Covid hospitalizations. Four of the new cases are age 17 or younger and eight are age 65 and older, in total 867 under age 17 and 821 over 65 have been identified with Covid. There are 50 more counted as recovered for a total of 4,688 cases and 55.92% of the eligible population is fully vaccinated in the county. According to the state, Calaveras 14-day average for Covid hospitalized patients is two with no increase or decrease and there remain five ICU beds available of 12.

Stanislaus had a large jump in reported cases with 2,702 new cases since Friday reported, see chart below.

Mariposa Health officials report they may not be contacting all cases due to the large number who have tested positive. They request those with symptoms or a positive test stay home to reduce the spread. Mariposa shares that people with COVID-19 have had a wide range of symptoms ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness. Symptoms can appear from 2-14 days, and with the Omicron variant seem to most often appear 2-4 days. Here is what they recommend to do if you have any symptoms or feel sick:

• Stay home. Most people with COVID-19 have mild illness and can recover at home without medical care. Do not leave your home, except to get medical care.
• Do not visit public areas.
• Take care of yourself. Get rest and stay hydrated. Take over-the-counter medicines, such as acetaminophen, to help you feel better.
• Stay in touch with your doctor. Call before you get medical care. Be sure to get care if you have trouble breathing, or have any other emergency warning signs, or if you think it is an emergency. Details are at cdc.gov.

The US Food and Drug Administration is warning people of fraudulent coronavirus home tests/rapid tests as detailed there.

COVID-19 Testing Public health recommends scheduling an appointment to get tested 5 days after possible exposure and if you are having any symptoms, to get tested right away. The Tuolumne County State testing site schedule is 7 days a week from 7 AM to 7 PM at the Mother Lode Fairgrounds.  Appointments can be made at www.lhi.care/covidtesting or by calling 888-634-1123. Testing is also available at pharmacies, at Rapid Care, and the hospital emergency department if you are experiencing any symptoms, or contact your healthcare provider. More details are here.

COVID-19 Vaccine appointments and booster vaccine shots are recommended. The CDC is recommending that moderately or severely immunocompromised 5 to 11-year-olds receive a Covid vaccine booster 28 days after their second shot. The CDC also now recommends people receive a booster shot if they completed a Pfizer series at least five months ago, or the Moderna series at least six months ago, or a J&J vaccine at least two months ago. Vaccine appointments for children ages 5 to 11 can be made through myturn.ca.gov, or by calling 833-422-4255, or through local pharmacies, more details are here. For ways to manage a fear of needles or a phobia and help others with it, view the CDC’s information guide here. Learn more about self-care strategies by visiting namica.org