Deadly week continues as 3 more die

A deadly stretch for the COVID-19 pandemic in Tuolumne County continued on Wednesday as the deaths of three more people were announced, in addition to 41 new cases that boosted the daily rate to its highest point since late August.

The people who died were identified as two men in their 80s, both of whom were said to be unvaccinated, as well as a woman in her 80s who was reported to be the county’s fourth vaccinated person to die out of 121 total deaths.

There were also 218 active cases and 18 people in the county hospitalized for COVID-19 on Wednesday, the second most at one time since there were 20 hospitalized on Aug. 31.

County public health officials confirmed on Thursday that only one of the currently hospitalized patients is vaccinated.

The county also had no intensive care unit beds available on Wednesday, according to data from the California Department of Public Health’s website. Four of the total six ICU beds at Adventist Health Sonora, the only hospital in the county, were taken by COVID-19 patients.\

In addition, the county’s average daily case rate of 57.2 per 100,000 residents on Wednesday was the highest since hitting 65.6 on Aug. 27. It was also up by 3.5 from Tuesday.

New cases reported on Wednesday were identified as four girls and five boys younger than 12, two girls and four boys 12 to 17 years old, three women 18 to 29 years old, two women and two men in their 30s, two women and three men in their 40s, three women and five men in their 50s, one woman in her 60s, and two women and three men in their 70s.

Out of the 41 new cases reported Wednesday, 34 were unvaccinated individuals.

Unvaccinated Californians were recently 6.9 times more likely to catch COVID-19, 9.9 times more likely to be hospitalized from it, and 15 times more likely to die from it than vaccinated individuals, the state Department of Public Health updated on its website.

Tuolumne County residents who were unvaccinated and died of COVID-19 over the course of the pandemic, including before the vaccines became widely available earlier this year, have ranged in age from younger than 18 to in their 90s or older.

The four vaccinated residents who have died were the woman in her 80s on Wednesday, a woman in her 90s, a man in his 80s and a woman in her 30s.

However, there remains strong resistance to getting vaccinated among a larger percentage of Tuolumne County residents than most of the state and nation, despite ample evidence that the vaccines are both safe and effective at preventing severe illness.

Vaccination data compiled by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed 59.7% of Tuolumne County’s population of people 12 and older were fully vaccinated as of Thursday afternoon, while 62.2% of Calaveras County residents 12 and older were fully vaccinated.

California’s overall vaccination rate among people 12 and older was 71.6% Thursday afternoon, while the same for the U.S. as a whole was 67.4%.

Children younger than 12 currently are not yet eligible to receive any of the three COVID-19 vaccines available in the U.S., though places throughout the country are preparing to roll out the shots for kids 5 to 11 pending CDC approval that’s expected sometime next week.

Many places with higher vaccination rates than Tuolumne County are seeing the significant retreat of the virus, so much so that it’s raised questions about whether vaccinating children 5 to 11 is even necessary.

Despite the seemingly mounting rate of cases and deaths in Tuolumne County over the past several days, County Health Officer Dr. Eric Sergienko assured earlier this week that infections actually appear to also be on a downward trajectory.

Sergienko attributed part of the recent spike to lag times in receiving data on cases and deaths and pointed to a chart on the county’s online COVID-19 dashboard that shows the “episode dates” of new cases, which were declining in recent weeks from a high in August.

The “episode date” is the earliest available date when they believe a person came down with CO

VID-19 based on when they began experiencing systems, got tested or got their lab results, as opposed to when the case is reported to the county Public Health Department.

“We’re delayed, anywhere from days to weeks,” Sergienko said in a story published Wednesday. “Overall for the population, we’re on the decline.”

Sergienko also emphasized that most new cases, and the vast majority of hospitalizations and deaths, have been and continue to be people who are unvaccinated.

To mitigate the impacts of the continued transmission and cases in the community, the county Public Health Department recommends the following actions:

• Face coverings for all age-appropriate individuals, regardless of vaccination status, in indoor public settings.

• Those who have close contact with the public are recommended to get tested regularly, every 14-28 days. Anyone experiencing symptoms should get tested right away.

• Cooperate with Public Health case investigators, contact tracers, and isolation and quarantine requests as these activities will limit the spread of disease.

• Stay home when sick or having symptoms.

• Get vaccinated, finish the vaccination series if not complete, and get a booster dose if eligible (See the COVID-19 tracker and story on page A2 for more information on making vaccination and booster appointments).