Newsom to send coronavirus ‘strike teams’ to fight outbreak in hard-hit Central Valley
Gov. Gavin Newsom is sending three coronavirus strike teams and $52 million in federal money to California’s Central Valley as the region battles a spike in COVID-19 cases.
The region is seeing the virus spread particularly among Latinos, essential workers and people who live in group settings like jails and nursing homes. The state will have a “laser-like focus” on stemming spread among those groups, Newsom said.
The funding from a federal grant will help bolster testing in eight counties that make up the Central Valley, as well as pay for more supplies and additional support for the medical system, Newsom said during a Tuesday press conference in Stockton.
The Newsom administration is also deploying so-called strike teams in the Central Valley, just like the state did in hard-hit Imperial County. The teams will include administration officials and community groups who work to stem the spread of the coronavirus, Newsom said.
The rate at which people are testing positive for the coronavirus varies from county to county in the Central Valley, with Fresno over 10.7% and Tulare over 17.7%, Newsom said. The statewide positivity rate is around 7.5%.
In some parts of the Valley, transmission rates are escalating at a concerning rate, said Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly. Some hospitals in the region are overwhelmed, with two-thirds of some ICUs filled with COVID-19 patients, he said.
One of the world’s most productive agricultural regions, the Central Valley is home to a large Latino population, many of whom are essential workers who have not been able to stay home during the coronavirus outbreak.
Over the past two weeks, intensive care units in Stanislaus County reached full capacity, Air Force medical staff reinforced a Lodi hospital overwhelmed by the outbreak, and members of the National Guard were assigned to a Fresno nursing home that faced a staffing shortage.
This story was originally published July 27, 2020 at 2:20 PM with the headline "Newsom to send coronavirus ‘strike teams’ to fight outbreak in hard-hit Central Valley."