MERCED (BLJ) – The Merced County Public Health Department on September 11 reported that 127 corona virus patients who were residents of the County had died (an increase of two in the last couple of days). The County is reporting a 5.8 percent for the last seven days, which has dropped the overall average to 17.57 percent on a total number of tests of 49,346. The number of tests amounts to 59 percent of the population of the City of Merced, 18 percent of the County population.

California reported 14,265 deaths, an increase of 171.

MERCED (BLJ) – On September 9, the Merced County Public Health Department reported 125 deaths (5 new) from Covid-19, and a radical drop in the percentage of positive test results, from nearly 18.27 percent down to 7.5 percent. The difference is due to the larger figure being a cumulative amount while the smaller amount represents only those tested in the last seven days. Nevertheless, it appears to be an improvement.

California reported 13,990 deaths (147 new).

UC Merced’s newest chancellor, Juan Muñoz, told the Merced Sun-Star on August 23, that about 500 students will be returning to dormitories owned by third parties, in the university's win-win public-private partnership for growth with the Australian developer, Plenary, and other national and international corporations.

“The university used to be a ‘grazing land,,’ Chancellor Juan Muñoz said, and seeing the campus now “the word that comes to mind is ‘transformation.’

“You come up Lake (Road) or Bellevue (Road), and you see the campus. Everyone has the same reaction,” he told The Bee during a Zoom interview. “It’s sort of like coming out of the tunnel, and you see Yosemite for the first time. It emerges like the city out of a prairie.” -- Monica Velez, Merced Sun-Star, August 23, 2020