Fresno County now has more than 300 coronavirus cases. Leaders release data for ethnicity
Fresno County reported 16 new cases of coronavirus on Friday and officials unveiled new demographic numbers by ethnicity for positive cases.
The county now has 311 coronavirus cases from its more than 4,500 tests. Seventy-six people have recovered from the pandemic virus and seven people have died.
The new demographics tracked include ethnicity per 100,000 people: Asian (22.6), Black (23.9), Hispanic (21.1), White (21.8) and other (46.2).
The numbers are preliminary and difficult to immediately use, according to Dr. Rais Vohra, Fresno County’s interim public health officer.
“As our epidemiological knowledge of this illness grows, we will be able to deepen our understanding,” he said. “For us at the county level, with the very few number of deaths we’ve had, it’s hard to make any broad assessment.”
The county has also begun to work with healthcare providers to bring testing sites to more far flung parts of the county, he said. For example, Adventist Health worked with the county to bring a site to Selma, where several dozen people were tested.
Fiscal concerns
The pandemic is already showing a fiscal hit to Fresno. Property tax collections, which make up 75% of county revenue, are down from a year ago.
The county put a countywide hiring freeze in place and department leaders have been warned of budget cuts of between 3% and 5% in the coming fiscal year, which begins in July.
The city of Fresno is also preparing for a dip in revenue. Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias said leaders are expecting a 20% to 25% percent decline.
He said the city has received about $6.4 million in coronavirus-related funding from the state, which includes money for helping hospitals, the homeless and other efforts. That’s a small assist for a city with a nearly $1.2 billion budget.
Fresno County expects to receive about $81 million from the federal government in aid through the CARES Act, according to officials. The city of Fresno is expected to receive about $94 million.
San Joaquin Valley
Tulare County on Friday confirmed 382 positive cases, the smallest daily increase — 90 — for the county this week. No new deaths were reported. So far, 17 people have died.
A total of 86 cases have been reported in Merced County as of Saturday morning, according to health officials. That is three more than the day before. The county has had three deaths and 28 recoveries.
Madera County did not add any news cases to the tally of 33 on Friday. Two people have died and 20 recovered, according to health officials.
Kings County added two cases in a Friday evening update for 20 total cases. So far, one Kings County resident has died from COVID-19 and four have recovered.
About 3.4% of cases in the central San Joaquin Valley are among children 17 or younger. That’s about double the percentage in the state or nation.
Statewide
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday announced an executive order requiring food sector employers with more than 500 employees to offer two weeks of paid sick leave for employees affected by COVID-19.
The sick leave policy is intended to be supplemental, Newsom said, and doesn’t override existing sick leave policies.
In California, the Department of Public Health said that as of Thursday (most recent data available), there were a total of 27,528 positive cases and 985 deaths.
There have been 32,494 deaths nationally related to COVID-19 as of Saturday morning, according to the The COVID Tracking Project.
Reporter Brianna Calix contributed to this story.
This story was originally published April 17, 2020 at 4:29 PM.
