24 New COVID-19 Cases In Tuolumne, 23 In Calaveras

Mariposa Public Health fact Friday

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Tuolumne County Public Health reports 24 new COVID-19 cases since yesterday’s report with 15 unvaccinated and 9 vaccinated. There are 182 active cases including 14 who are hospitalized. Public Health Officials state a team continues to coordinate with two local care facilities on efforts to mitigate current outbreaks.

Today’s newly reported cases had 2 cases age 17 or younger and 14 cases age 60 or older. The gender and age breakdown is; 1 girl age 12 to 17, 1 woman age 18 to 29, 2 women and 2 men age 30 to 39, 1 man age 40 to 49, 2 men age 50-59, 5 women and 1 man age 60 to 69, 4 women and age 70 to 79 and 2 women and 2 men age 80 to 89.

The total current case rate, a 14-day average for Tuolumne County remains at 38.5 from 36.6 per 100,000 population Wednesday.  A total of 63 were released from isolation since yesterday, in all 5,148 have been released from isolation. There have been 5,443 community cases and 1,620 inmate cases. Of Tuolumne County’s population eligible to be vaccinated 61% have been vaccinated. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) reports 1 active COVID-19 case at the Sierra Conservation Center. The SCC manages 3,285 inmates including all the southern fire conservation camps. There have been 113 deaths due to COVID-19, three were vaccinated.

Calaveras County Public Health reports 24 new cases today and active cases increased by 14 to 70,  including one Covid hospitalization. There are five new cases age 17 or younger and six new cases age 65 years old or older. Since the pandemic began Calaveras has had 627 Covid-19 positive children who are 17 and under and 657 Covid-19 positive people 65 and over. Calaveras has vaccinated 55.1% of their eligible population. Calaveras’ Monday, October 25th clinic has changed locations to The Armory located at 695 Main Street, Copperopolis, CA 95228 from 9:30am-7:00pm due to the weather. Appointments are available and walk-ins are welcome. Visit MyTurn.ca.gov or call (833) 422-4255 to make an appointment or reschedule.

Mariposa County Public Health reports 5 new cases and 126 active cases including 10 hospitalizations. Health Officials stated that yesterday, the CDC announced authorization for boosters for those who previously received the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines AND who falls into specific groups. They are waiting for final authorization from the state before they can start administering boosters.
General guidelines for eligibility:
◾ If you received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine over two months ago, you will be able to get the booster of your choosing.
◾ If you received the Moderna of Pfizer vaccine over six months ago and fall into one of the groups below, you will be able to get the booster of your choosing:
◾65 years and older
◾18+ living in long-term care settings
◾18+ with underlying medical conditions
◾18+ who work or live in high-risk settings
To determine if you fall into one of these groups, please visit https://www.cdc.gov/…/2019-ncov/vaccines/booster-shot.html
Appointments for boosters for those who previously received the Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccine are NOT OPEN YET.
Once CDPH provides authorization, you can make your appointment by visiting myturn.ca.gov or calling 1-833-422-4255.

Mariposa Health Officials also say they have been getting a lot of questions about why they are seeing so many cases, even with vaccines widely available. While there are many factors that impact this, including number of people vaccinated and our behaviors, the Delta Variant is also impacting case levels. R-naught represents the average number of people an infected person is expected to spread the disease to. It gives us a number to show how contagious an infectious disease is. The original strain of COVID-19 (like we were seeing in 2020) has an R-naught of about 3. Meaning one person could spread the virus to about 3 other people. The Delta variant is much more contagious and one person can spread the virus to 5 – 9 people.

Week Overview (Oct. 15 – 22) Tuolumne reported a total of 172 new cases up from 145 last week and Calaveras has reported 82 cases up from 65 last week. This week there were five Covid deaths of residents reported in Tuolumne County and one in Calaveras. There were 66 new cases in Mariposa and one death of a resident due to Covid.

COVID-19 Testing The LHI testing site at the fairgrounds has moved to a self-swabbing process. If you are 12 or older and are able to do the swabbing yourself, you will be instructed to do so. Self-swabbing had previously been optional but is now part of the regular testing protocol. Public health recommends if you believe you have been exposed to Covid, schedule an appointment to get tested 5 days after exposure and if you are having any symptoms, please get tested right away. The Tuolumne County State testing site is open 7 days a week beginning from 7 AM to 7 PM at the Mother Lode Fairgrounds. Appointments can be scheduled at www.lhi.care/covidtesting or by calling 888-634-1123 the same website and phone number can be used to schedule tests in other counties. Testing is also available through some pharmacies, at Rapid Care, the hospital emergency department if you are experiencing any symptoms, or contact your healthcare provider.

COVID-19 Vaccine appointments can be made through myturn.ca.gov or by calling 833-422-4255. COVID-19 vaccine appointments are also available at local pharmacies as detailed here.