Stanislaus County reached a grim milestone this week when the area recorded and then surpassed 200 deaths from COVID-19.
The Stanislaus County Health Services Agency reported 12,745 positive COVID-19 cases and 203 deaths as of Tuesday.
Stanislaus County recorded the first COVID-19 case in March and the first death in April. The region reached 100 deaths on July 29. Just under three weeks later the area reached 200 deaths.
As of Monday, 200 people were hospitalized with the virus and of those, 63 were in ICU, said SCHSA Public Health Educator Bobby Moser.
Misery provided more details about the Stanislaus County residents who have died from COVID-19 during the semi-weekly Facebook update from the Stanislaus County Office of Emergency Services.
The deceased range in age from 29 to 97 years, with 81 percent 65 years or older.
Most but not all the deceased had at least one underlying medical condition.
In the six months that COVID-19 has been present in Stanislaus County it has risen to the seventh highest position for cause of death. While early on it was described as having similar fatality rates as influenza, the data shows differently. In the six months, COVID-19 has claimed more than double the number of lives lost from flu and pneumonia during an average year.
“We can prevent COVID-19 from getting higher on this list,” Moser said. “Together we can slow the spread of COVID-19 and reduce the amount of hospitalizations and deaths in Stanislaus County.”