Valley’s coronavirus crisis is here. Data, past decisions provide key lessons for moving forward
The worst coronavirus fears for the central San Joaquin Valley are becoming reality.
The region’s hospitals are at capacity and face staffing and supply shortages. The chronic health conditions many Valley residents endure are exacerbated by COVID-19.
Essential workers, particularly farm workers, in California are three times more likely to be infected with the virus compared to non-agriculture workers, data compiled by the California Institute for Rural Studies shows. Poor communities of color in Fresno are disproportionately infected with the virus.
And Latino patients have proven to be particularly vulnerable and make up the majority of Fresno County’s deaths for the virus.
Health officials, researchers and policy advocates in March and April sounded the alarm, warning the region would be particularly vulnerable to the virus and its effects.
Earlier this week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom acknowledged the crisis and pledged millions in aid to Valley counties. Meanwhile, the state legislators, the Fresno County Board of Supervisors and Fresno City Council held a joint meeting to deliberate how to spend the first round of federal funding allocated to cover the costs of the pandemic.
So how did we get here?
Fresno County’s health officer attempted to answer that question, saying there are a number of factors.
“I think this is a virus which really takes advantage of people not being able to really protect themselves at all times,” Dr. Rais Vohra said.
He pointed out there are still essential functions residents must perform, such as going to the grocery store, and that the virus is spreading here both in suburban and urban areas. Essential workers do not account for the totality of the spike in cases, he said.
What would bridge the gap?
Despite the data that shows the nightmare scenario playing out, Vohra remains optimistic that Fresno and the rest of the region can bend the curve back — but that means everyone must do their part.
“We feel like it’s really all hands on deck,” he said. “This virus has shown us time and time again that shortcuts don’t cut it. We’re going to have to really do our due diligence to help protect everyone in our community.”
Whatever interventions are put in place, farm workers’ ideas should be incorporated, said Dr. Dvera Saxton, an association professor in the Anthropology Department at Fresno State.
“A lot of workers aren’t eligible for the support that’s been coming out through the federal government, through the state government, and locally, too,” she said. “Some of these things are new, but some of these things are not new and are just getting worse. And if we don’t deal with it, we may put our food supply at risk.”
The data brief from California Institute for Rural Studies recommended supports include direct payments, unemployment insurance, food assistance, housing support for COVID-19 isolation, counseling and other social services.
“We don’t want to create more homeless people in this pandemic,” Saxton said. “When we build these infrastructures of support for the people that really need it, it will help reduce the spread because we’re going to keep people safe, we’re going to take care of people who really need it, and that benefits the rest of us significantly.”
Shelter-in-place again?
Vohra said reverting back to more strict shelter-in-place guidelines wouldn’t happen without input from state officials.
“It doesn’t matter what restrictions are written up in the law books if people aren’t following them and if they’re not being enforced. Then, it’s kind of a moot point,” he said. “So I feel like the safety messages are going to be the same. My billboard hasn’t changed in three months. We’re still just saying the same thing that we’ve said over and over again, but we do need people to actually start doing that stuff in order to bend this curve.”
The extra help from the state is a positive sign in a low point of this disaster and crisis, he said.
“We’ve learned from a lot of the decisions that we made in the past, and as we move forward we’re going to institute the best evidence and the best practices in order to to really get our numbers back under control,” Vohra said.
This story was originally published July 29, 2020 at 4:59 AM with the headline "Valley’s coronavirus crisis is here. Data, past decisions provide key lessons for moving forward."