Kern Public Health reported another 37 lives have been lost to the coronavirus bringing the county’s total to 727 deaths. The true death toll of the virus is most likely significantly higher than what’s reported daily by health officials.
The deadliest month of the pandemic was December. 195 people died that month — it’s more than a quarter of all the deaths related to the virus in Kern County.
Sixty-nine people died the week before Christmas. The deadliest day of the virus has been Dec. 18, 2020. Thirteen people died on that day. As health officials predicted, the deaths stem from the case surge seen following Thanksgiving.
Although most people who are infected with the coronavirus recover, nearly half of Kern County is at risk for compications.
Death data from the county shows more than two-thirds of deaths are people 65 and older. The top underlying conditions are hypertension, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. About 1 in 3 people who died from coronavirus had hypertension, while another third had diabetes.
