COVID cases soar 82 percent in Fresno County. Hospitalizations also on rise

Tim Sheehan
NIAID-RML/TNS

COVID-19 cases are on the rise in Fresno County and across the central San Joaquin Valley, fueling concerns that the region may be subjected to a third winter-season surge in illnesses and hospitalizations from the virus.

State and Fresno County health officials this week reported 1,811 new confirmed coronavirus infections in the county – a sharp increase of 82% from the week ending Dec. 3, when fewer than 1,000 cases were reported, and the highest one-week total since a summer wave of cases was on the downswing in mid-August.

Neighboring counties also saw their highest numbers of new cases in weeks as COVID-19 continues to spread and vaccination rates among residents remain stagnant. A total of 3,404 new laboratory-confirmed cases were reported the six-county region of Fresno, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced and Tulare counties – a 66.3% increase from 2,047 cases that cropped up last week.

The flow of cases in late November and early September is starting to resemble what happened in 2020 and 2021 when summer waves of cases were followed by fall lulls before the virus began to come on strong over the winter months.

As cases increase, so too does the number of people sick enough from the coronavirus and its variants to require hospitalization. Hospitals across Fresno County reported as many as 194 confirmed inpatient cases of COVID-19 in their beds this week, up from 180 on Dec. 3 and 153 on Nov. 26.

Valleywide, the number of hospital patients with COVID-19 reached as high as 278 earlier this week, compared to 265 on Dec. 3 and 220 on Nov. 26.

The capacities of hospitals and their emergency departments are being tested by not only an increase in serious COVID-19 cases, but with a slew of patients needing treatment for other respiratory viruses including influenza and respiratory syncytial virus or RSV.

“This year, influenza looks like it’s going to come back in a big way,” Dr. Rais Vohra, Fresno County’s interim health officer, said last week. Vohra noted that many of the measures used by residents to limit the spread of COVID-19 over the past two years – such as increased hand washing, avoiding crowds, wearing face masks in public and physical distancing – also had the effect of keeping the flu and other respiratory viruses at bay.

Last week, the accumulation of respiratory infections including COVID-19 forced emergency medical services officials to take the drastic step of ordering ambulance crews in Fresno, Kings, Madera and Tulare counties to assess patients’ conditions and deny transport to emergency rooms for those who are not experiencing immediate life- or limb-threatening situations.

Fresno County Emergency Medical Services Director Dan Lynch said last week that ambulances “always will respond to 911 calls.“

“However, if it is determined that a patient is stable, and does not require emergency transportation, the ambulance personnel will provide an appropriate alternate recommendation and not transport the patient by ambulance,” Lynch said in a statement issued by the county health department this week.

The “assess and refer” policy, which remains in effect this week, instead calls for ambulance paramedics and emergency medical technicians to refer the patient to other sources of care – their personal physician, urgent care centers or telehealth services.

“If you do have an emergency condition (like) chest pain or seizures, don’t hesitate to go to the hospital emergency room or call 911,” Lynch said. “But if it’s a minor issue, we want people to go somewhere other than the emergency department.”

When the assess-and-refer policy was invoked in December 2020, it was the first time ever for the Valleywide EMS system. It has since been called up five additional times to temporarily ease the burden on hospital emergency rooms: in August and November 2021, and in January, July and December 2022.

Since the region’s first confirmed cases of coronavirus in March 2020, almost 590,000 laboratory-confirmed infections have been reported across the Valley’s six counties, including more than 6,200 people whose deaths have been officially attributed to COVID-19:

  • Fresno County: 281,598 cases to date, 2,899 deaths.

  • Kings County: 60,965 cases to date, 464 deaths.

  • Madera County: 43,112 cases to date, 387 deaths.

  • Mariposa County: 4,336 cases to date, 40 deaths.

  • Merced County: 73,999 cases to date, 877 deaths.

  • Tulare County: 123,976 cases to date, 1,546 deaths.

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