Coronavirus updates: More than 400 released from county jail; Tulare County confirms 13 dead
Easter Sunday was marked by quiet churches and city parks as Fresno’s faithful largely celebrated the holiday at home.
City officials across the region had urged people — at the risk of fines, in some cases — to stay at home and find other ways to gather in celebration. Security guards were posted at Woodward Park’s major entrances Sunday to shoo people away. A large electronic sign at the southeast corner read “Park Closed.”
Many churches, including St. John’s Cathedral and Peoples Church, live-streamed or otherwise made their sermons available to worshipers.
Hundreds of inmates released from Fresno County Jail
Fresno County had cut loose a total of 428 prisoners from the county jail by Monday afternoon.
The releases came following a 5 p.m. deadline by the state of California and a state Judicial Council order. Implementation of releases started on April 7, sheriff’s spokesman Tony Botti said.
Of the first 428 releases, 118 were due to the emergency order mandating $0 bail for those charged with certain felony offenses. The charges included brandishing a weapon or firearm, auto theft, burglary, failing to register as a sex offender and possession of methamphetamine for sale, according to Botti.
In an interview Monday as the latest releases were taking place, Sheriff Margaret Mims implored citizens not to ignore crimes because of concerns that the offenders would not be arrested.
“Eventually the offenders ... will be held accountable,” she said.
Kings, Tulare Counties confirm related deaths
This as the number of coronavirus cases in the region topped 500. The majority of cases are in Fresno and Tulare counties, which had more than 200 cases each as of Saturday.
Kings County confirmed its first death on Saturday. The person was more than 65 years old. It is not clear how they contracted the virus.
Tulare County confirmed two new deaths on Monday. One person died on Friday, the other on Sunday. Both were over 65 years old and contracted the virus through direct contact. A new death was reported in the county almost every day last week.
In confirming the death, the agency also updated its total case count to 267. That’s a jump of almost 40 cases since the county’s Saturday update. Another 413 people are under self-quarantine and being monitored by health officials.
In a Monday afternoon update, Kings County announced two new cases for 12 total but said three county residents have now fully recovered.
Farm workers brace for impact of the coronavirus
The COVID-19 illness caught many farmworkers by surprise as it spread through the central San Joaquin Valley in mid-march.
Now, the coronavirus could devastate farmworkers, who are already facing the rainy season and some shortages in seasonal work and many of whom go without healthcare and have no savings to fall back on. Undocumented farmworkers - who make up about half the total farm labor force according to some federal estimates - are expected to face the toughest time adjusting to the coronavirus economy. They don’t qualify for unemployment and have been excluded from many of the safety net programs rolling out in response to the outbreak.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has hinted at some economic relief for undocumented workers. California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara last week also emphasized that undocumented workers could be compensated for job-related injuries, including COVID-19 illness.
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According to state data, fieldworkers made just under $800 a week on average in 2019.
Farmworkers who spoke to The Bee said they are bracing for the worst.
Detainees on hunger strike; ICE officials say it’s a lie
Hundreds of undocumented immigrants being held at the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Facility in Bakersfield began a hunger strike over concerns about the coronavirus, according to a couple of detainees and lawyers.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, however, called those claims “completely false” and a tactic to exploit immigrant detainees.
The detainees told The Bee that Mesa Verde is not taking proper measures to prevent or lower the risk of becoming infected with coronavirus at the facility and that the movement was initiated last Thursday night by a women’s dorm.
Costa: ‘Food is a national security issue’
Lawmakers in California are looking to make farmers a priority in the next economic stimulus bill congress passes.
Farmers are struggling to cover losses sustained from no longer selling products to schools, restaurants, amusement parks, sports arenas or any other enterprises shut down due to the virus. Dairy farmers have seen a 30% to 40% decrease in the prices they receive as huge buyers of milk and milk products shut their doors. So far, they have been mostly left out of the economic stimulus packages signed by President Donald Trump.
“Food is a national security issue,” said Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, a longtime almond farmer.
“Unfortunately, the majority of Americans don’t think it is, because you go to a grocery store and there’s all the food you want. But it’s not until you see those grocery shelves with some of your favorite foods empty. Then it dawns on you that food doesn’t come from the grocery store. It comes from a farmer, a dairy person, a rancher out in California.”
Masks delivered to Fresno clinic
The Central Valley Community Foundation delivered 15,000 surgical masks on Monday to Clinica Sierra Vista in Fresno.
The foundation directly purchased 30,000 surgical masks for local health clinics in the area. The remaining masks will be delivered to four other clinics later in the week. The donations are part of a larger effort to help frontline workers and local nonprofits impacted by the coronavirus crisis.
The foundation, through its COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund, has raised more than $700,000 to provides non-competitive grants to Central Valley nonprofits working to increase food security, support for healthcare workers and coordinated communications strategies related to the coronavirus.
Fresno school 3D prints face shields; hundreds a day
Students at Fresno’s Career Technical Education Charter High School have designed plastic face shields that can made on the school’s nine 3D printers. The school has been churning out nearly 100 shields each day and will soon triple production as 20 more 3D printers come online at the school.
Face masks have been particularly challenging to find in the U.S. since the outbreak. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced this week the state is set to spend $1 billion to purchase 200 million masks each month to boost its supply.
Reduced traffics speeds up highway projects
Caltrans is using state and local stay-at-home orders to speed up its construction projects across the state. Due to reduced traffic — 36% on average in urban areas — contractors are working during the day instead of at night. They are also extending work hours and closing longer stretches of road at a time.
Caltrans launched a wave of new road construction projects after the state passed a new gas tax to fund the improvements in 2017. The 12-cent-per-gallon increase was expected to raise $5.4 billion per year in new money.
This story was originally published April 13, 2020 at 9:52 AM.