Coronavirus updates: Fresno County sees biggest increase in cases; 4 deaths in Tulare
Four more people have died from the coronavirus in Tulare County, bringing the total to 111 fatal cases, health officials said on Friday.
The county also added 42 new positive cases of COVID-19. That’s 3,046 since the beginning of the pandemic.
Fresno County saw its largest increase of patients who tested positive for the coronavirus on Thursday, the same day Gov. Gavin Newsom handed down a mask order for people out in public.
Fresno County health officials reported 158 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total to 3,058 positive cases and 62 deaths.
The central San Joaquin Valley has become a COVID-19 hotspot in California.
There have been 58 COVID-19 deaths this month in the Valley counties of Fresno, Tulare, Kings, Madera, Merced and Mariposa.
The state has its own worrisome numbers.
California has surpassed 157,000 COVID-19 cases, with more than 5,200 dead from the disease, according to the California Department of Public Health.
In response, Newsom gave the order for Californians to wear face masks in public to control the spread of coronavirus in the state.
Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization recommend wearing cloth face masks in public in order to tamp down the spread of of COVID-19.
Deaths at Valley nursing homes
About half of Fresno County’s deaths have been patients at skilled nursing facilities.
Since The Bee’s last nursing home update on Monday, one more patient has died at Dycora Transitional Health & Living in Fresno. That’s 30 deaths total for that facility, the highest in the state.
Fresno adopts a program to increase testing in poorest neighborhoods
The Fresno City Council approved a $5 million effort to do mobile testing for COVID-19 in southeast, southwest and central Fresno through a grant with UCSF Fresno.
The program, proposed by Mayor Lee Brand and City Manager Wilma Quan, appropriates $5 million the city received in federal COVID-19 relief dollars.
Called Mobile HeaL, the program screens for the coronavirus and underlying health problems that exacerbate the virus, like asthma, bronchitis, diabetes and hypertension.
The partnership with UCSF begins later this month and continues to the end of this year.
Wells Fargo donates to help people hurting financially
Multiple branches of Wells Fargo donated $145,000 to the United Way to help people in the central San Joaquin Valley hurt financially by the coronavirus, according to a news release.
The United Way will use the money for COVID-19 relief efforts at its chapters in Kern, San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties, as well as the Fresno and Madera chapter, the release said.
United Way Fresno and Madera Counties has already distributed $50,000 in cash aid to 100 families hurt by the response to the pandemic, the release said.
United Way chapters in the Central Valley have collectively raised more than $1 million for relief efforts, according to the release.
This story was originally published June 19, 2020 at 7:47 AM.
