Mother Lode COVID numbers decline in past week
Cases of COVID-19 were down this past week in Tuolumne County, which remained in a moderate community level for Covid, less severe than the high level the county was in previously, Dr. Kimberly Freeman, the county health officer, said Friday morning in a press briefing.
As of Friday morning, there were no patients with COVID-19 in the intensive care unit at Adventist Health Sonora that county public health was aware of, Freeman said.
“There are a handful of people in the hospital that have Covid,” Freeman said. “We’re not aware of whether or not they’re hospitalized due to covid.”
Freeman said the county may have another COVID-19 death to report, but she indicated it may have to do with out-of-county cases that go back as far as January.
Asked about the severity of individual cases of COVID-19 in the county this week, Freeman said, “It seems to continue to be mild. Most people admitted to the hospital were not admitted because of Covid. This matches up with what I’m hearing on calls statewide and nationwide, that severity is much lower now than previous waves.”
Freeman emphasized that no cases of monkeypox have been detected in Tuolumne County. Monkeypox has no connection to COVID-19 and coronavirus.
Earlier this week, Calaveras County Public Health counted its 123rd COVID-19 death, its first coronavirus death since late April. Tuolumne County added two COVID-19 deaths last week, its first coronavirus deaths since late March, bringing its total of pandemic deaths to 183.
Tuolumne County, along with
much of the state of California, moved into the medium community level on a federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tracker last week, Michelle Jachetta, the Tuolumne County Public Health director, said a week ago.
Tuolumne County had a total of 122 new cases of COVID-19, including two cases at the Sierra Conservation Center state prison outside Jamestown, for the week that ended June 3, Jachetta said. That’s down from last week, when there were 138 new cases of coronavirus in Tuolumne County for the week ending May 27, including five inmate cases at the SCC state prison.
As of Friday afternoon, there were 121 active cases of coronavirus in the county, with six individuals with COVID-19 hospitalized during the past week. Hospitalization counts include all patients diagnosed with COVID-19 during their stay.
New community cases in Tuolumne County were identified by county Public Health as four girls and two boys under age 12; two girls between 12 and 17; five women and five men between 18 and 29; five women and 11 men in their 30s; 10 women and five men in their 40s; eight women and 11 men in their 50s; 13 women, seven men, and one other in their 60s; eight women and nine men in their 70s; six women and four men in their 80s; and two women and two men age 90 or older.
In spite of lower case numbers and milder cases of COVID-19, Jachetta urged people Friday to remain vigilant and continue practicing preventive measures such as getting vaccinated and boosted, wearing masks in public, washing hands frequently, maintaining physical distance, and staying home when not feeling well. Those who are eligible should receive a second booster, Jachetta said. Children ages 5-11 are now booster-eligible.
The COVID-19 testing site at Mother Lode Fairgrounds, set up by the state and run by Optum Serve-lhi, has experienced delays in launching test-to-treat operations, Jachetta said. She urged people to speak with their healthcare providers if individuals have tested positive for COVID-19, to determine if therapeutics are appropriate and prescribable.