County releases latest data on COVID death toll

The Kern County Public Health Services Department has released updated data concerning COVID-19 deaths.

According to a news release from the county, Public Health was unable to release additional data before

Thursday because it would risk identifying the deceased.

The last update provided by the department on such data was on Feb. 5.

As of Thursday, the county has reported 1,026 COVID-19 deaths since the pandemic hit locally one year ago.

Here are some key findings in the most recent data update, according to the news release:

• Those 65 and older continue to be the most impacted age group, accounting for 67.5 percent of all COVID-19 deaths in Kern. This group only makes up 11.6 percent of Kern’s population, ac

cording to the California Department of Finance 2020 population projection, and only 9.3 percent of reported cases.

• There have been no deaths of children under 18.

• The majority of deaths continue to have comorbidities. Hypertension and diabetes are the two most common. Only 29 deaths have been reported with no comorbidities.

• Hispanics account for 59.1 percent of COVID-19 deaths in Kern. The California Department of Finance population projection for 2020 has Hispanics at 52.6 percent of the population, making this the most disproportionately affected race locally. African Americans make up 6 percent of the population and have accounted for 4.9 percent of the deaths. Whites are less affected, having 34 percent of the population but only 29.2 percent of deaths.

• Men account for 59.5 percent of the deaths while accounting for 50.8 percent of the county’s population.

On Thursday, the county health department reported 16 new coronavirus deaths and 78 new cases.

Kern’s total cases are at 105,222 since the pandemic began.

Public Health reports 37,639 people have recovered from their illness, and 61,784 people are presumed to have recovered.

This is the age breakdown of the positive cases: 12,675 up to age 17; 63,478 ages 18 to 49; 19,185 people ages 50 to 64; 9,815 people ages 65 and older.

The state reports that 106 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 in Kern, and 23 of those are in intensive care units.

The public can find more data on the Kern County Public Health COVID-19 dashboard at https://kernpublichealth.com/ covid-19_dashboard/.

The health department is reminding residents that you can find testing locations by going to kernpublichealth.com, clicking on the COVID-19 button and looking for “find a testing site near you.”

The public can go to https:// kernpublichealth.com/coronavirus-vaccine/ for current vaccination information, including who falls into particular phases and tiers, and resources.