Coronavirus-related death trends

Here’s what we know about the 70 who died due to the novel coronavirus

SANTA CRUZ >> Some data on the 70 individuals that have lost their lives to COVID-19 in Santa Cruz County since the pandemic began may seem obvious, such as the fact that 49 of those 70 dead — or 70% — were skilled nursing or residential care facility residents.

But other facts, such as the fact that 17 out of the 70 that died — or 24% — had no underlying conditions, leaving solely the virus to kill them, are less obvious.

The Sentinel breaks down the stats by date of death, gender, age group, race/ethnicity, health conditions and outbreak to illustrate the realities of COVID-19 in Santa Cruz County to provide clarity on how the virus has attacked members of the community.

By date

Though the month is not over, the number 25 finds new meaning this holiday season — the number of people that have died from the coronavirus in the county. It is the deadliest month so far.

November came in second with a total of 18 deaths. October yielded 15 COVID-19 deaths. Cases had not yet mounted in September or August beyond a small spike after the Fourth of July; the county’s coronavirus data dashboard reported five and three deaths in those months, respectively. In July, June, April and March there were just one single death each. May did not bring any fatalities.

More specifically, the deadliest dates have been Nov. 28 and Dec. 13 in Santa Cruz County; the community lost four members each of the two days.

By gender

In Santa Cruz County, the fatality rate between men and women is almost even — 33 of the 70 or 47% of the deceased were men and 37 of the 70 or 53% of the deceased were women.

By age group

Due to an overwhelming amount having underlying, significant health conditions that added on to their contracted cases, the elderly in Santa Cruz County followed the international scientific trend of being more vulnerable to the disease.

Those in their 80s and 90s made up for 44 of the 70 deaths, or 62%

of the total fatalities. All in all, 16 individuals in their 80s and 28 individuals in their 90s succumbed to their illnesses.

The 60s and 70s age groups nearly tied in their death counts; nine people in their 60s and 10 people in their 70s have died of the coronavirus in the county to date. Combined, that’s 27% of the virus-related fatalities.

One person in their 40s and two people in their 50s died after contracting COVID-19; two of the three had underlying health conditions, but one did not.

Four people who died were labeled in county records as “over 65.” Our data set shows that 58 individuals, or 83%, were over the age of 70 when they died.

By race

Though the Latino population has suffered from the most cases of COVID-19, according to the county’s dashboard, the demographic came in second in deaths to white people — 35 white, 24 Latino, five Asian and one Black resident died as a result of the virus; on death certificates, one was marked “other” and four were marked “unknown.”

The disparity between the county’s case and death count comes in part from who lived their last days in the skilled nursing and residential care facilities in the county. Even at Watsonville Post Acute, a facility in a town where the population is primarily Latin0, just six of the 16 residents who died were Latino. Of the 49 people who died in relation to one of the congregate living facility outbreaks in Santa Cruz County, just eight were Latino.

By health condition

Though the Latino population came in second in deaths, it came in first in fatalities of individuals with no contributing, underlying health issues. Nine Latino residents were considered “healthy” before contracting the virus.

The other eight individuals with no significant health issues varied in race — five were white, one was Asian, one was labeled as “other” and one’s race was unknown.

By outbreak

The outbreak at Santa Cruz Post Acute, reported in mid-November, led to the death of 18 residents. Watsonville Post Acute’s October outbreak followed closely behind, an event that ultimately killed 16 individuals. The Pacific Coast Manor outbreak, an event that overtook the Capitola facility, saw 10 residents die. Three individuals have died because of the Hearts & Hands Post Acute & Rehab Center outbreak in Santa Cruz. One died after contracting COVID-19 at Maple House II in

Live Oak and another died of the recent Montecito Manor outbreak in Watsonville. In this county, no skilled nursing or residential care facility staff member has died of the coronavirus.

While these are the confirmed deaths, data from the licensing agencies at these facilities and others that are reporting COVID-19 cases for the first time indicate that the death certificates are going to continue to come in. The California Department of Public Health shows that 20 people have died due to COVID-19 transmission at Santa Cruz Post Acute. It also shows Pacific Coast Manor’s outbreak death toll to be 13 deaths, not 10.

Valley Convalescent Hospital’s name has not shown up in any of the data provided by the county; the CDPH shows less than 11 (or at least one) death associated. In addition, Aegis Assisted Living of Aptos — which just reported an outbreak this month — has lost at least one resident according to the residential licensing agency, the California Department of Social Services.

The total of those dead because of COVID-19 in the region will hit 77 when the remaining death certificates come in.