150th COVID death recorded
The death of an unvaccinated Tuolumne County man in his 40s to COVID-19 was confirmed Wednesday afternoon, as California officials announced an extension of an indoor mask mandate aimed at preventing hospitals from being overwhelmed by the latest surge of cases.
No other information about the man’s death was disclosed by the county Public Health Department, including when and where he died. He was the 150th county resident killed by the virus since the pandemic began nearly two years ago.
It was the second COVID-19 death in the county reported this year. There were 115 last year and 33 in 2020. Seven of the 150 people who have died were fully vaccinated at the time.
The county had 240 active cases as of Wednesday afternoon, which included nine people who were hospitalized for the potentially deadly disease. Seven of the patients were reportedly unvaccinated.
There were also 58 new cases of COVID-19 in the county confirmed on Wednesday, which included 33 involving unvaccinated people and three inmates at the Sierra Conservation Center state prison outside Jamestown.
New non-inmate cases in the county reported on Wednesday were identified as four girls and one boy under age 12; three girls and five boys between 12 and 17; five women and six men between 18 and 29; five women and two men in
their 30s; two women and four men in their 40s; six women and two men in their 50s; one woman and five men in their 60s; two women in their 70s; and two men in their 80s.
In addition, the county’s daily case rate continued rising on Wednesday to 51.6 per 100,000 residents averaged over the previous two weeks. That was up from 46.4 per 100,000 on Monday and 18.8 per 100,000 two weeks earlier on Dec. 22.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and state Health and Human Services Agency Director Mark Ghaly announced a statewide requirement to wear a face covering while in public indoor spaces would be extended to Feb. 15.
The mandate began Dec. 15 and was supposed to end on Jan. 15, but officials extended it by another month in light of the new surge driven by the more contagious omicron variant.
Law enforcement officials in Tuolumne and Calaveras counties have said since the start of the pandemic that their agencies would not enforce mandates related to COVID-19, including the wearing of masks.
While some have expressed optimism that the omicron variant appears to be less severe than the previously dominant delta strain, the World Health Organization clarified on Thursday that the rapidly spreading version should not be categorized as “mild.”
Tuolumne County public health officials say recent local trends are similar to what has been seen in places where the omicron variant is known to be present, but no cases of the strain have been confirmed yet locally because it can take weeks to get those results.
Also Wednesday, the Calaveras County Public Health Division added 31 new cases of COVID-19. Calaveras County’s coronavirus death toll was at 94, with its two most recent deaths counted Dec. 29. Its public health division does not publicly disclose vaccination status of new cases or deaths.