Placer County reports 10th coronavirus death, first in a month amid spike in cases
Placer has reported its 10th death from the coronavirus, the county’s first in more than a month.
The Placer County health department in a Tuesday update reported one new death and 15 additional cases, increasing its infection total to 534.
County spokeswoman Katie Combs-Prichard said the recent death occurred Sunday and was reported to health officials Monday.
The victim was between ages 50 and 64, the second within that age group to have died from the virus in Placer County, according to its online COVID-19 dashboard. The remaining eight who died were 65 or older.
Speaking to The Sacramento Bee earlier in June, when cases had jumped by about 33 percent in the weeks following business reopenings, public health officer Dr. Aimee Sisson noted that the virus was becoming more prominent in younger populations within Placer County.
Placer had not reported a coronavirus death since May 22. Prior to that, its last death came in late April.
Tuesday’s update marks the sixth coronavirus death in June across the four-county capital region, joining five in Sacramento County. Yolo County has not reported a death since May 29, when it disclosed its 24th. El Dorado County has not yet reported any deaths from COVID-19.
The recent fatality also marks the 100th in the area from the virus. Sacramento’s death toll was revised down over the weekend, from 67 to 66, with one death transferred to a different jurisdiction after an address correction. It was not transferred to Placer, Combs-Prichard said.
Lab-positive coronavirus cases have been spiking in Placer County since late May and continuing into June, with a record high of 28 new cases reported last Thursday. Similar trends have been reported in Sacramento and Yolo counties. Sacramento reported by far its highest increase in confirmed cases Tuesday, adding 131 for a total of 2,374.
Including Tuesday, Placer County has reported 230 new COVID-19 cases in the past 14 days. That’s 43 percent of the all-time total. Placer County has seen more cases in the past two weeks than it had from the rough beginning of the pandemic, in early March, through the end of May, the county’s data dashboard shows.
This story was originally published June 23, 2020 at 1:19 PM.
