Another four Shasta County residents have died of COVID-19, for a total of 161. The latest were two men in their 60’s, a man in his 70’s and a woman in her 80’s. Another 59 cases have been reported, as well as 886 negative tests. The total number of cases so far is 10,632. An estimated 262 people have the virus right now, 21 of them hospitalized and 3 in intensive care.
Tehama County has reported 4,831 cases and 47 deaths.
There have been 311 cases and 5 deaths in Trinity County.
1,598 have been reported in Siskiyou County with 13 deaths.
Butte County has reported 147 deaths among their 10,237 cases.
Lassen County has had 16 deaths among their 1,962 cases in the community and 2 deaths among the 3,473 cases in prison.
Glenn County has had 2,048 cases and 23 deaths.
Humboldt County has had 2,907 cases and 31 deaths.
Modoc County has had 430 cases and 4 deaths.
Any Shasta County resident who has gotten the first dose of vaccine should check shastaready.org for instructions on getting the next shot. A mass clinic will take place at the fairgrounds in Anderson on February 13th. Anyone who wants to be in line for the shot should go to shastaready.org and click on “Tell Me When It’s My Turn” or call 245-7890. Public health will then call to make an appointment when the vaccine becomes available.
Shasta County’s adjusted case rate has improved from 36.5 to 25 daily cases per 100,000 residents. It would be lower with more widespread testing. If this and some other metrics remain low for two weeks, Shasta County may move back into the red tier.
The White House says President Joe Biden is using the Defense Production Act to help bolster vaccine production, at-home Coronavirus testing kits and surgical gloves. The administration will help Pfizer clear a bottleneck around capabilities with vaccine production by giving the drugmaker first priority to needed supplies.
Health experts say the U.S. is behind in detecting dangerous Coronavirus mutations but trying to catch up. Viruses mutate constantly. Less than 1% of positive specimens in the U.S. are being sequenced to determine whether they have mutations.
Testing is free and convenient, with information about appointments or immediate walk-in testing at shastaready.org.