Sacramento County sees surge in coronavirus deaths with five new fatalities reported
Five new deaths from the coronavirus were reported in Sacramento County on Thursday morning, the second- largest day-to-day increase in fatalities since the pandemic began.
The county has now reported 41 total deaths among 987 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the highly contagious virus, according to an update shortly before 9 a.m.
Three of the newly reported deaths came in the city of Sacramento, which has now had 22 fatalities; one was reported in Citrus Heights, where four have now died; and another in Rancho Cordova, the city’s second death from the coronavirus.
Another three have died so far in Elk Grove and 10 in unincorporated parts of Sacramento County, according to the county public health department’s online COVID-19 dashboard.
The county on Wednesday reported two more fatalities. That means seven of the 41 deaths — more than 17 percent of them — have been reported in the last two days. Sacramento County disclosed its highest increase in reported deaths between April 4 and April 5, when six were added to the death toll.
The total case count is closing in on 1,000, but the large death increase was accompanied by a relatively small uptick in reported cases; a jump of just 16, from 971 as of the previous day’s update. Updates to infection totals can reflect more widespread availability in testing or lag times in test results being returned, rather than a direct, real-time reflection of the spread of the virus within the community.
The four-county Sacramento region now stands at surpassed 61 coronavirus deaths, with 12 reported in Yolo County as of a Wednesday afternoon update and eight dead in Placer County, according to those counties’ public health departments. No fatalities have been reported yet in El Dorado County, where there have only been 39 reported cases as of Wednesday.
This story was originally published April 23, 2020 at 9:27 AM.
