Tuolumne County reports 135th COVID death, 43 new cases

Tuolumne County’s latest COVID-19 report on Friday included an additional death and 43 new cases, as 74 children in the county between 5 and 11 years old received their first dose of the Pfizer pediatric vaccine.

The report stated that the most recent county resident to die from the deadly virus was an unvaccinated man in his 50s, though when and where he died was not disclosed. He was the county’s 135th coronavirus death since the pandemic began early last year.

Six of the seven hospitalized COVID-19 patients in the county on Friday were also unvaccinated.

Out of the county’s 43 new cases, 36 were reportedly unvaccinated people. One of the new cases was also identified as an inmate at Sierra Conservation Center in Jamestown, the first case at the prison in several months.

The other 42 new cases were identified as two girls and three boys younger than 12, four girls and three boys between the ages 12 and 17, three women and

three men between the ages 18 and 29, five women and two men in their 30s, four women and six men in their 40s, a woman and a man in their 50s, two women and two men in their 60s, and two women in their 70s.

There was no report from the county Public Health Department on Thursday due to offices being closed for Veterans Day, so Friday’s report covered both days.

Kristina Herrera, public health programs supervisor, confirmed the department had administered 74 vaccinations in the 5-to-11-year-old age range as of Friday. Federal regulators Ok’ed the shots for children that young the previous week.

County Health Officer Dr. Eric Sergienko said in a media briefing earlier Friday that there haven’t been any reports in Tuolumne County of bad reactions to the vaccine among children 5 to 11 who have received it.

Sergienko also said the county’s current two-week average case rate of 34.9 per 100,000 residents was roughly two to three times higher than the minimum rate that would qualify the county for California’s former “purple tier,” the worst category of the state’s now-defunct tiered risk assessment system.

“We would have been solidly in the purple tier,” he said. “I think that’s something we’re missing out on (since the state did away with the tiered system in June). People think, ‘Well, we’re back to normal,’ but we’re not back to normal.”

The only way to get back closer to normal is by reducing the spread of the disease, Sergienko said, with the best way to accomplish that being to follow the health guidelines that have been encouraged throughout the pandemic: wearing a mask in public, washing hands frequently, social distancing, staying home if sick, and getting vaccinated.

There were 152 active cases in the county on Friday out of 7,608 total since the pandemic began, which included 1,621 among SCC inmates.

Calaveras County had no new deaths and 17 new cases after not reporting new numbers on Thursday, though it does not disclose the vaccination status of cases.