Tuolumne County surpasses 6,000 total COVID-19 cases,

Tuolumne County surpassed 6,000 total cases of COVID-19 on Friday amid a recent surge driven by the highly contagious delta variant.

There were 28 new cases in the county on Friday, which brought the total to 6,024 since the pandemic began early last year. That included 1,618 infections among inmates at the Sierra Conservation Center state prison outside of Jamestown.

One of Friday’s new cases was identified as an inmate at SCC.

About 30% of the county’s total infections have occurred since July 1, including about 36% of the 4,406 non-scc “community cases” among residents of the county. Twenty-five of the county’s 96 total deaths from the coronavirus have occurred since July 1, as well.

Out of 27 community cases on Friday, five were people who had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

The community cases on Friday were identified as one girl and three boys under age 12; one girl and one boy between 12 and 17; three men between 18 and 29; four women and three men in their 30s; one woman and one man in their 40s; four women in their 50s; one woman and one man in their 60s; two men in their 80s; and one woman in her 90s.

There were 233 active cases in the county as of Friday afternoon, including eight Covid-positive individuals who were hospitalized.

Dr. Stephanie Stuart, emergency room physician and chief of medical staff for Adventist Health Sonora and its outpatient clinics, estimated last week that she and her coworkers have been seeing 30 or more potential COVID-19 patients per day in the hospital’s ER.

Most of the COVID-19 patients who go to the ER are exhibiting respiratory symptoms, including trouble breathing, coughing, or low oxygen levels, Stuart said.

Calaveras County also had 25 new cases on Friday, though it does not release the age, gender or vaccination status of new cases.

Unvaccinated people are 29 times more likely to be hospitalized for COVID-19 than those who are fully vaccinated, the Calaveras County Public Health Division announced Friday, citing a study titled “SARSCOV-2 Infections and Hospitalizations Among Persons Aged ≥16 Years, by Vaccination Status — Los Angeles County, California, May 1–July 25, 2021.”

“Being fully vaccinated lowers your risk of severe symptoms, hospitalization, and death from COVID-19,” the division stated. “Don’t wait. Vaccinate.”

The county has recorded 66 coronavirus deaths since the pandemic began early last year.