Two additional COVID-19-related deaths were reported in Calaveras County this week, bringing the countywide death count to 25.
The county’s public health department relayed on Thursday that the deceased were a male in the 50-64 age group and another male over the age of 65.
New case numbers have declined in Calaveras County in recent weeks, though not enough to bring the county out of the most restrictive purple tier in the state’s COVID-19 monitoring system.
County Health and Human Services Agency Interim Director Sam Leach has advised residents to continue social distancing and getting tested for COVID-19, even if they are not feeling sick, in order to better track the virus and bring down testing positivity rates.
“The numbers are all trending in the right direction,” Leach said at Tuesday’s board of supervisors meeting. “I believe we’re probably a few weeks out (from exiting the purple tier).”
At the local hospital, the inpatient census continues to be manageable, according to Dignity Health Mark Twain Medical Center President and CEO Doug Archer.
As of Tuesday, the hospital had 11 total inpatients--five of whom had COVID-19, and one of the two patients in ICU had COVID-19.
“ICU capacity is really good right now,” Archer said. “Numbers have been trending down in inpatient status.”
