Third COVID-19 death reported in S.J. county
STOCKTON — San Joaquin County Public Health Services has reported the third death related to the coronavirus pandemic.
The death was reported just before noon Wednesday. Public Health Services is not releasing any information about the decedent.
It is the first coronavirus-related death in the county in a week. The first two deaths related to the virus were reported on March 18. In those instances, health officials said the decedents were both older than 65 and suffered from underlying health conditions.
The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus had increased to 71 by 4 p.m. Wednesday as well. There had been 60 reported at 5 p.m. Tuesday night.
Officials at Adventist Health Lodi Memorial Hospital on Wednesday said there are confirmed cases in the community but gave no further details.
Since Gov. Gavin Newsom’s announcement of a statewide emergency due to the coronavirus pandemic, City of Lodi staffers, first responders and community leaders have been meeting at 8 a.m. every weekday to review local, statewide and national statistics regarding confirmed cases and deaths from the coronavirus. The meetings, held in the newly-established Emergency Operations Center inside Crete Hall at Hutchins Street Square, also provide city leaders with a game plan mapping out logistics, resources and duties.
Meetings are led by deputy city manager Andrew Keys, who said Wednesday morning’s 60 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the county was a 17.6% increase from Tuesday.
In addition, the national rate of confirmed cases is increasing by 56% each day, while state cases are increasing by 32% a day, Keys said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that as of Wednesday, there were 54,453 confirmed cases of COVID-19 nationwide, and 737 deaths.
The California Department of Public Health reported 2,535 cases of COVID-19 across the state and 53 deaths Wednesday.
Jeff Hood, spokesman for the city, said the EOC meetings are a way to determine how officials should enforce the state’s shelterin-place orders, and what information will be shared with the public throughout the day.
“We’ve never encountered this type of challenge before,” Hood said. “How do we go about solving this situation? We’re trying to figure all that out as we go along, and this is how we do it. People get together and try to solve this problem before us.”