Tuolumne County adds 2 more deaths
Tuolumne County announced two more confirmed deaths of residents to COVID-19 on Friday, both of whom were reported as unvaccinated women.
One woman was in her 80s and one woman was in her 90s, the county Public Health Department reported on Friday, in addition to announcing 23 new infections among county residents.
No other information about when or where the women died was disclosed.
Their deaths brought the total number of county residents who have died from the virus to 131, up from 121 a week earlier on Oct. 29, and 113 two weeks earlier on Oct. 22.
Michelle Jachetta, the county public health director, said Friday morning that the five deaths reported the previous afternoon included one person who died in September, as well as others who died in October and over the past week.
The county Public Health Department has said in the past that it can sometimes take weeks to months before it receives confirmation of a local death from COVID-19, depending on where the person died, how long the investigation took, and other factors.
There were also 12 people in the county hospitalized for COVID-19 on Friday, including 11 who were unvaccinated.
New cases on Friday were identified as two girls and one boy younger than 11, three boys ages 12 to 17, three women ages 18 to 29, two men in their 30s, a man in his 40s, a woman and two men in their 50s, four women in their 60s, a man in his 70s, and two women and a man in their 80s.
The county had 212 active cases on Friday out of a total of 7,461 confirmed since the pandemic began, of which 1,620 were in
mates at Sierra Conservation Center in Jamestown.
There will be a COVID vaccination clinic for children ages 5 to 11 hosted by the county Public Health Department on Wednesday, after federal regulators earlier this week approved an emergency use authorization for kids that young to receive a smaller-dose Pfizer shot.
County Health Officer Dr. Eric Sergienko said the amount of antigen in each shot is about onethird of the amount given to adults and requires two doses spaced at least 21 days apart for full effectiveness.
Parents can make appointments for their child at www.myturn. ca.gov, which is where all future clinics for everyone 5 or older will be scheduled.
Jachetta said they received their first shipment of pediatric shots early in the week and have received “quite a few calls” in recent days from parents asking when they could schedule their kids to get vaccinated.
The county Public Health Department also will offer the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to anyone 18 or older in the Manzanita building at the Mother Lode Fairgrounds in Sonora from 9 a.m. to noon and 1:15 to 4 p.m. on Nov. 13, with appointments also available through www.myturn.ca.gov.
Calaveras County had 30 new cases and no new deaths on Friday, though it doesn't report vaccination statuses. The county has had a total of 83 deaths out of 3,971 confirmed cases, with three people who were actively hospitalized for COVID-19 as of Friday.