Coronavirus update: Region tops 15,000 cases; What makes open-air dining? No more singing

The central San Joaquin Valley has now counted more than 15,000 positive coronavirus cases and 262 related deaths.

The six-county region hit the 15K mark over the Fourth of July weekend, after Fresno County reported 259 cases on Saturday. Kings County reported 51 new cases on Saturday and 39 new cases on Sunday. Mariposa was the only other county to update over the weekend and counted three new cases.

On Monday morning, Tulare County added 320 new cases, bringing the total in the region to 15,611 positive cases with an average of 426 new cases being reported each day.

There was one coronavirus-related death reported at a skilled nursing facility in Kings County on Sunday. It was the only death reported in the region over the weekend, though several counties did not issue updates.

Seventeen people have died in Tulare, Fresno and Kings counties in the first six days of July alone. Those counties each reported two deaths Wednesday, the first day of July. Seven more deaths were reported on Thursday, three on Friday and one Sunday.

Restaurant owner says he was targeted by city

David Fansler, the owner of Pismo’s Coastal Grill and other other Fresno restaurants, said he is being targeted by the city of Fresno and county officials over what qualifies as outdoor or open-air dining and is allowed amid a coronavirus surge.

On Friday, his restaurant was given a “written letter” threatening criminal prosecution, fines and loss of business license and conditional use permit for Pismo’s and his Westwood’s BBQ & Spice Co., both in River Park. Fansler claims his business, with its large, open windows, should be considered an outdoor, or at least an “open-air,” restaurant.

That would make it permissible, under the order Gov. Gavin Newsom passed last week, which called for coronavirus-stressed counties — including Fresno, Tulare and Kings — to halt indoor dining at restaurants and allow only outdoor seating, takeout and delivery.

In the past, Fansler expressed his frustration with how Newsom seemed to single out restaurants, but not other businesses that draw large numbers of customers such as Costco or Walmart.

On Monday, Fansler confirmed that an employee has tested positive for COVID-19 at Pismo’s Coastal Grill and that he would stand his ground and keep his dining room open, depite possible action from California’s Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

State gets serious on singing and chanting in churches

Californians are still free to attend their house of worship, but they shouldn’t sing or chant.

Citing the risk of spreading the coronavirus, the state Department of Public Health updated its COVID-19 guidelines to say “places of worship must therefore discontinue singing and chanting activities.”

Religious organizations had previously been urged to “strongly consider discontinuing singing, group recitation, and other practices and performances.”

It remains to be seen if, or how, the state and counties are expected to enforce the rule.

Fresno teachers talk struggles with online classes

Speaking with The Bee, teachers in the Fresno area said the “social-emotional” effects the shutdown had on students and teachers couldn’t really be measured. They said those emotional connections can be critical components of a child’s education and is one of the many reasons some teachers say they are eager to return to the classroom.

But other aspects of the distance-learning experiment in Fresno were measured at least in part. The numbers weren’t good as many — and frequently, most — students skipped lessons and teachers who tried to make online education work sometimes labored even to find their students.

In June, the district put out its first set of possible guidelines, but it remains unclear whether Fresno students will remain online when classes return Aug. 17, or return to campus or see a mix of online and in-person classes.

State struggles to slow COVID-19 in Latino communities

Latinos of working age are getting sick and dying from the coronavirus in disproportionately high numbers, a situation that has become clearer after virus testing sites branched out to more diverse communities in recent weeks.

As California scrambles to respond, there’s the question of whether officials should have noticed the surge in cases among Latinos sooner and acted more assertively and whether the state and its disparate counties muster the data, strategies and community connections to take the fast and focused steps needed to identify and snuff out COVID-19 clusters in under-served communities?

“The most impacted community in the state of California is the Latinx community,” Newsom told The Sacramento Bee in an interview last week. “These are the heroes of the front lines, the essential workers that we relied on at the beginning of this pandemic to keep us fed and to take care of our most acute needs.”

“We could not afford to neglect 39 percent of our population,” he said.

This story was originally published July 6, 2020 at 8:38 AM.