Stanislaus County continues to be a coronavirus hot spot, with five more deaths reported over the past weekend.

Also, the available beds in hospital ICU units dropped to zero percent availability, another indication that the pandemic has kicked into a higher gear.

While not all the patients in ICU beds are COVID positive, they do make up the majority of the patients currently in those units.

Also, the rate of positive cases has increased dramatically since Thanksgiving, with a rate of over 15 percent – compared to a low of slightly under a four percent positivity rate in early October.

Throughout Stanislaus County, more than 26,000 positive cases have been recorded since the pandemic began. In this area, Riverbank has seen over 1,100 COVID-19 cases and Oakdale is nearing the 800-case mark.

Stanislaus County as a whole has reported more than three dozen coronavirus-related deaths during December already.

As part of the San Joaquin Valley region, Stanislaus County remains under a Stay At Home order which will be in effect at least until Christmas and possibly beyond.