Fresno’s COVID-19 transmission rate still climbing. How will that affect reopening the economy?
Fresno County is on a special state watch list for the coronavirus after surpassing an 8% positive test rate.
California health officials attribute the increased transmission to outbreaks at skilled nursing facilities and Avenal State Prison since several prison staffers live in Fresno County.
“We will be working very closely with the state to identify exactly what our challenges are and also what resources we would need to help overcome some of these challenges,” said Dr. Rais Vohra, Fresno County’s interim health officer. “We’re not out of the woods yet.”
A positive test rate below 8% was one of a number of benchmarks Gov. Gavin Newsom said counties must meet before moving forward with reopening their economies.
Vohra also noted that Fresno’s “doubling time” in new cases has decreased from three weeks to two weeks.
California Department of Public Health identified a number of actions to help slow transmission, including expanding testing capacity and supply of personal protective equipment. Vohra said county officials are looking forward to receiving more state resources and assistance in these areas.
Kings and Tulare counties are also on the the state’s “targeted engagement” list.
In Kings County, the state listed hospitalization rate and hospital capacity as areas of concern. Tulare County continues to see high transmission rates in skilled nursing facilities, workplaces and households.
Reopening the economy
It remains unclear how being on the list will affect Fresno’s ability to move forward with reopening the economy.
“It’s a concern,” Vohra said. “We’re certainly hoping that the implications won’t transfer over to the timing of reopening.
“We’re just hoping that we can work with our partners at the state to help our metrics improve, while at the same time work with all of our industry leaders in our business community to make sure that we open up sectors in a safe way,” he said.
Vohra and Fresno County Public Health Director Dave Pomaville met this week with George Brown, the owner of George Brown Sports Clubs, ahead of this week’s reopening of the five GB3s in the Fresno-Clovis area. Those gyms will requires staff to wear masks at all times and encourage customers to do so when possible, Vohra said.
Do your part
Vohra urged Fresno County residents to “do your part” to lower the transmission rate by continuing vigorous hand washing, wearing masks and practicing social distancing as much as possible.
“I think all of us can and should do the best that we can in terms of our hand hygiene and being able to have a mask that we can use right away whenever we’re interacting with other people so that that can really decrease the amount of community transmission and really slow the spread of this germ throughout our community,” he said.
This story was originally published June 8, 2020 at 5:45 PM.