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Greater Sacramento region falls below 15% ICU availability, stay-at-home order will ‘likely be extended’

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. —Hospital intensive care unit availability for the Greater Sacramento Region has fallen below 15% again, all but ensuring the state's stay-at-home order will not be lifted in time for the new year as many had hoped.

California’s COVID-19 state dashboard on Thursday listed 14.4% ICU availability, the first time the metric has fallen back below 15% in several days.

State officials said Thursday afternoon that the order would "likely be extended based on early ICU projections."

"While the Greater Sacramento region’s daily current ICU capacity numbers have been relatively consistent at approximately 14%, early projections over the next four weeks show ICU capacity is likely to drop," a release from the Department of Public Health said. "Therefore, the order will likely be extended for that region. Official ICU projections for the Greater Sacramento region will be posted on January 2 based on January 1 data."

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Free COVID-19 mobile testing for Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties will launch Monday

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MODESTO, Calif. (KTXL) — A new COVID-19 mobile testing van for Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties will launch beginning Monday, Jan. 4, Rep. Josh Harder announced Thursday.

“We heard from communities across the Valley that we’re low on testing capacity — so we went and found some more,” Harder, D-Turlock, said in a statement. “The first step in combating the virus is understanding where it is. This will give us a better chance to do that while also giving people more opportunities to get tested.”

Curative, a national oral COVID-19 testing provider, will offer a self-administered oral test, instead of a nasal swab.

The test is free to all individuals, including those without insurance, and can be administered to children, according to Harder’s office.

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With Latino COVID-19 cases a problem for Stanislaus County, vaccine education starts now

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STANISLAUS COUNTY, Calif. — For Stanislaus County, vaccine education for the Latino populations starts now.

With 64% of all the COVID-19 cases in the county being Latino, the way forward is inherently linked to getting the population vaccinated.

Kamlesh Kaur, a spokesperson for Stanislaus County Health Services Agency, said the Latino community was disproportionately impacted due in part to the sectors where many of them worked and due to many living in multi-generational households that spread the virus. 

Kaur said one of the key elements behind that 64% figure was the increased rates during the summer for Latinos and a lack of education and messaging.

“It (education) wasn’t as widespread at the time because it was also at the beginning of the pandemic, sort of,” Kaur said. “Since then, we have made a conscious effort in reaching out to the Latino community.”

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Coronavirus update, Dec. 29: Stanislaus deaths reach 586. Area ICUs are near capacity

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Dec. 29—Latest facts on COVID-19 in Modesto area

The overall number of COVID-19 patients declined Monday in Stanislaus County hospitals, but intensive-care units were near capacity.

The county's five hospitals had 333 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Monday, down from 348 on Sunday. That is about 100 more than the peak of the summer surge.

There were just two remaining staffed adult ICU beds available, down from six the day before.

Eight more residents have died, for a total of 586 since the first in April, the county Health Services Agency said. The 158 COVID-related deaths in December surpasses the single-month high since the start of the pandemic. In August, 152 people succumbed.

A stay-at-home order started Dec. 6 because of tight ICU space for adults in Stanislaus and 11 other counties in the San Joaquin Valley Region. It was triggered when available beds fell below 15% of the total. Monday was the 11th straight day at zero.

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Stanislaus County reels from coronavirus deaths. Hospitalizations soar to new high.

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Stanislaus County is reporting eight coronavirus deaths per day, as local hospitals are filled with sick patients and many residents ignore a stay-home order in the days leading up to Christmas.

An update Monday afternoon recorded 10 new deaths, and COVID hospitalizations soared to 363 after a brief dip to 315 hospitalizations on Sunday.

In the past seven days, 55 people have died from COVID-19 in Stanislaus County, which has the third highest COVID-19 mortality rate among California counties. Monday’s updated count pushed the county’s pandemic death toll to 533.

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Stanislaus County COVID-19 death rates soar, cases surging

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TURLOCK, Calif. — In line in his pickup at a new pop-up testing site at Stanislaus State University in Turlock, Cody Brown said he may have been exposed to COVID-19.

His job at a tractor supply company told him to get tested.

"So I called in sick because I had a fever the other night and they said 'Oh let's schedule a test,'" Brown said.

Married with two young kids, his wife tested positive before Thanksgiving. He once believed COVID was fake, but no longer.

"From seeing my wife, she said she had the flu before, but she said the headaches were pretty crazy," Brown said.

The long line of about two dozen cars on a campus parking lot was a grim reminder of the surge in Stanislaus County.

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Today’s COVID-19 and vaccine updates for the Sacramento region

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — 3,900 vaccines heading to Stanislaus County possibly by Thursday

Stanislaus County is expecting the arrival of 3,900 coronavirus vaccines, possibly by Thursday, health officials confirmed.

Bobby Moser, spokesperson for Stanislaus County Health Services, said major hospitals like Kaiser Permanente, Doctors Medical Center, and Sutter Health would be getting their own shipments while the county handled distribution for the smaller clinics. 

The vaccine comes at time when hospitals are being overwhelmed with surging COVID-19 cases. Moser said that the vaccines won't do much to mitigate the holiday surge of cases in the near future. However, he did say it was a glimmer of hope for the county at this time.

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County to receive 3,900 COVID vaccine doses

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Stanislaus County will be getting the initial allotment of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines within days and will start administering it to frontline healthcare workers soon.

The county's first shipment will be 3,900 doses of the vaccination and is going to be given to frontline healthcare workers in the county, said Stanislaus County Health Services Agency spokesperson Kamlesh Kaur. The vaccine requires two shots for the highest level of protection, so the first shipment will not be enough to vaccinate all frontline healthcare workers, Kaur said.

The state received the first 33,000 doses from Pfizer on Monday. About 300,000 more doses are scheduled to be distributed this week and nearly 400,000 additional doses are expected next week, according to the Associated Press. Subsequent doses will also be set aside for healthcare workers, as well as residents and workers at long-term care and skilled-nursing facilities, who can expect to receive doses of the vaccine through local pharmacies.

Essential workers as well as those with medical conditions that leave them vulnerable to severe cases of the virus, will be among the next groups prioritized for vaccination, said Dr. Erica Pan, the acting state public health officer. The general public can expect to be vaccinated in the spring and summer.

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Stanislaus State donates medical freezers for COVID-19 vaccines

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TURLOCK, Calif. — The Central Valley is preparing to receive vaccines. Cal State University Stanislaus donated two medical-grade freezers to help store the vaccines in the county.

The university freezers are four times colder than a normal freezer, used to store plant and animal samples, as well as microorganisms for long-term storage.

“They are rare. They are expensive,” Dr. Jim Youngblom with Stanislaus State said. “Most freezers are at minus 20 degrees Celsius. And these are minus 80 degrees Celsius. And I think they’ve become really hard to come by with the vaccines now starting to be distributed.”

The university said it was approached by the Stanislaus County Public Health Department on Friday and the freezers were picked up Monday afternoon.

“We were just contacted recently, and they’ve already picked up the freezers,” Youngblom explained. “I think that suggests to me that the vaccines are coming.”

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Turlock nursing facility sees 4th highest COVID resident deaths in CA, according to state data

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TURLOCK, Calif. —

Forty residents are currently sick with COVID-19 at Turlock Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and 40 residents have died since the pandemic started, according to the California Department of Public Health.

The Turlock facility has had more residents die of the novel coronavirus than any other another nursing facility in the area, and the fourth most in the state, according to CDPH data.

The facility reported different statistics saying 28 residents have died.

“On behalf of our entire community, we join these families in mourning the loss of their loved ones to this insidious virus,” said a message posted on the facility’s website.

The facility and state's statistics are most closely aligned when it comes to the total number of residents who have tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic started. Both reported at least 155 residents have tested positive for the virus. The facility added that half of the residents have recovered.

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