Want to avoid a real COVID-19 lockdown in Fresno? Stop having large family gatherings

It is the question Fresno County public health officials don’t want to contemplate: Will the COVID-19 pandemic prove so difficult to manage that the region has to really be locked down, such as by a curfew that keeps people in their homes on the penalty of citation or arrest?

The trend in July was not good. The San Joaquin Valley over the past month has been a coronavirus hot spot, so much so that Gov. Gavin Newsom directed a strike team to Fresno to meet with county public health leaders on how to get a better handle locally on the pandemic.

At the start of July, fewer than 100 people a day were being treated at area hospitals for COVID-19 infections. By the end of the month that had risen to an average of 300 a day.

Most recently, the rolling 14-day average for hospitalized patients in the county has shrunk from 298 in the middle of last week to 294 on Sunday.

There are basics each Fresno County resident needs to follow to reduce the spread of COVID-19. One of them is avoiding large family gatherings, local health experts say.

The potential is high for the virus to continue to challenge county health officials. As of Wednesday, Fresno County had recorded 17,978 cases — the most in the central San Joaquin Valley — and 191 deaths.

Do the basics

Dr. Rais Vohra, interim health officer for Fresno County, said he does not have a threshold for returning to earlier restrictions, nor is he prepared to call for a lockdown while there are those basic things residents can do to slow the spread of the highly infectious disease. Those are:

▪ Wear face coverings in public. Cloth material is preferable; four-layer masks are best.

▪ Stay apart by keeping a six-foot separation from strangers.

▪ Wash hands frequently with soap and water and spray surfaces with sanitizing cleaners.

▪ Avoid social gatherings.This last point is one that Fresno County residents need to take seriously. Regular family gatherings are a big part of the fabric of life in the Valley. But when people from outside of immediate family join in — even if those people are relatives — infections can spread.

“You cannot let down your guard wherever you are,” Vohra said. “We let down our guard when we are among friends and family.”

Call for lockdown

If August repeats the upward trend of cases like July, or even gets worse, that is going to put area hospitals under greater pressure. Ultimately, the strain on the hospitals is what will trigger a move back to greater restrictions.

Some in Fresno took to calling the situation in March and April a “lockdown,” when staying home was strongly encouraged if one was not an essential worker, and retail businesses and restaurants were closed.

But a true lockdown is when residents are ordered to stay home, with the possibility of citation or arrest for violation.

Something that may have escaped notice is that the formal shelter-in-place order still remains.

There are some calling for Newsom to move California back to the shutdown status it had in March. The California Public Interest Research Group penned an open letter last month to state leaders that California needs to shut down again, start over, and deal with the novel coronavirus properly. Cal PIRG advocates on behalf of consumers.

If Fresno County cannot do the basics well enough, locking down is the likely final option, despite the economic upheaval that would create.

Let’s avoid that by doing the pandemic basics. Stay home as much as possible. If you have to leave home, wear a mask and stay separated from others as much as possible. Wash or sanitize hands often. And keep social gatherings, even with relatives, to a minimum. Social life is just not something that is feasible right now.

This story was originally published August 12, 2020 at 10:23 AM with the headline "Want to avoid a real COVID-19 lockdown in Fresno? Stop having large family gatherings."