Coronavirus updates: Foodmaxx employee tests positive; Tulare County sets hiring freeze

For the first time in nearly a week, Tulare County has reported no new deaths related to the coronavirus.

In an online update on Thursday, the county did confirm an additional 27 people had tested positive for the virus, an increase that brings the total number of cases in the county to just shy of 1,300.

There was also a double-digit increase in the number of recovered patients reported on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Fresno County confirmed three more people had died of complications of the coronavirus. In all, five deaths were reported in the central San Joaquin Valley on Wednesday, including two people in Tulare County. The six-county region has now seen 74 related deaths since the outbreak began in March.

The total number of positive cases in the region now sits just shy of 3,000, with the bulk of cases split between Fresno (1,014) and Tulare counties (1,295). Nearly 1,000 people have recovered.

Foodmaxx employee tests positive

An employee at the FoodMaxx store on West Shaw Avenue in Fresno has tested positive for COVID-19. The company temporarily shut down the store on Wednesday for a deep cleaning.

The store, on Thursday, May 14 and will return to normal hours of operation.

Councilman to city: End shelter-in-place

Fresno Councilmember Garry Bredefeld, who has been a critic of the city’s shelter-in-place order, announced legislation to end the order and allow any business owner ready to open to do so, provided they maintain safety precautions like social distancing and routine cleaning.

The council is expected to consider the legislation at the May 21 meeting, though getting enough members of the City Council to support Bredefeld’s proposal could be a difficult task, as the majority has supported closures to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Counties ask for reopening requirements to be eased

The legislation would put the city more in line with Fresno County, which plans to request the state ease requirements so the region can move to the next phase of recovery and reopening. A letter crafted by several counties in the area will be sent by the end of the week asking officials to “reconsider the metrics they are using” to allow local counties to move to forward and reopen some businesses.

Fresno County is currently reporting 30-40 new infections per day. The state requires no more than seven new infections per day over a two-week period, before the county could move to the next phase. It would also need to see no COVID-19 deaths for a period of two weeks. Fresno County reported three new deaths on Wednesday.

Tulare County hiring freeze to save $64 million

Tulare County has announced a hiring freeze to help with the budget shortfall expected to follow from the pandemic.

The county is expecting $18 million to $25 million in lost revenue, due to the closure of businesses under the state’s stay-at-home order and the fact property taxes are being deferred.

The freeze is expected to save the county $64.6 million, the Visalia Times-Delta reported. Public safety vacancies will be exempted from the hiring freeze on a case-by-case basis.

Fresno County has had a hiring freeze in place since April, when it warned department leaders of budget cuts of between 3% and 5% in the coming fiscal year, which begins in July. Fresno County did received federal government aid through the CARES Act.

Tulare County falls just shy of the population threshold needed to received CARES Act funds, the Times Delta reported.

Council president receives threats following confrontation

Fresno City Council President Miguel Arias has been receiving calls from outside of the city and state making threats toward him and his family, following an altercation with a group at his home on Tuesday.

Arias was cited for misdemeanor battery after the group showed up to his house, blaming him for business closures from the coronavirus pandemic. Members of the group shot video of the incident, which showed Arias pushing at least one person on the stairs to his apartment. His two young children were inside at the time.

Arias said the new threats were cause for him to take additional safety measures, and he is considering all options to ensure Tuesday’s incident doesn’t happen again.

Cases at Central Valley Meat Co.

Nearly 200 workers at the Central Valley Meat Co. have tested positive for COVID-19, a Kings County health official said Wednesday.

An outbreak was previously announced at the Hanford-based meat-packing plant in April. At the time, there were 32 cases. That number is now at 182 and expected to grow, according to health officials.

Central Valley Meat Co. continues to operate. The company employs 900 people at two locations, in Hanford and Vernon in Los Angeles County. The plant runs five days a week, processing more than 1,500 cattle a day.

The outbreak accounts for more than half of the county’s 348 coronavirus cases.

Community concert band cancels summer series; first time since WWII

The Kingsburg City Band will cancel its annual summer concert series for the first time since 1943.

The band was established in 1887 and is recognized as one of the oldest community bands in the western U.S. This would have been its 134 season.

The cancellation was announced by the band’s long-time director Dale Engstrom in a letter to its musicians.

“This has been a very difficult decision but we are sure it’s the correct one. Your health and well-being are our highest priority,” he wrote.

The nature of the 60-member band, the concert venue and an audience that has numbered in the thousands made it impossible for the concerts to meet state, county and local requirements, according to the band’s steering committee.

Under the state’s COVID-19 response plan, he pointed out, concert venues will not to reopen until Phase 4. The state is currently in Phase 2.

Music from the band will be available online during each of six typical concert nights June 18-July 23, including live-stream highlights of previous performances with pre- and post-concert commentary and interviews. Plans are in place to celebrate Kingsburg City Band’s 135th anniversary season in 2021.

This story was originally published May 14, 2020 at 8:30 AM.