Coronavirus updates: Tribal casinos remain open; Drug, bed shortage at hospitals
Ten more people have died of the coronavirus in the central San Joaquin Valley, according to updates from Tulare, Merced and Kings counties on Monday.
Madera and Mariposa counties reported no new deaths and Fresno County didn’t have an update on Monday.
Merced County reported seven deaths in the county’s deadliest weekend on record since the pandemic began. Kings County reported one deaths.
Tulare County reported two related deaths on Monday and another in an update on Tuesday. The county has now seen 168 people die from the coronavirus.
There have been 346 coronavirus-related deaths in the six-county region since March.
The region reported 623 new positive cases on Monday. That’s not including Fresno County, which moved its reporting updates to Tuesdays and Fridays. The state is reporting 10,891 cases for Fresno County as of Monday.
Tulare County added another 224 cases on Tuesday, bringing the number of current active cases in the region to more than 13,000. In all, more than 25,000 people in the Valley have tested positive for the virus.
Fresno County hospitals ‘fragile’ but stable
As hospitals in Fresno County continue to fill, health officials say they have done well in maintaining their share of needed respirators.
But the county has a limited amount of remdesivir, a drug that has been useful in keeping patients from being put on ventilators, according to Dr. Rais Vohra, the Fresno County interim health officer.
As of Sunday evening, the most recent data available from the California Department of Public Health, Fresno County had 269 confirmed COVID-19 patients being treated in local hospitals. That includes 50 patients in intensive-care units.
The number of confirmed patients compares to 203 a week ago, and 140 patients two weeks ago.
Between confirmed cases and suspected patients — those who show symptoms of the coronavirus disease but were not yet confirmed through testing — the total COVID-19 caseload at hospitals on Sunday was 307 — an 88.3% increase over the past two weeks.
Tribal casinos remain open; ‘Patently unfair’ says Fresno-area cardrooms
Despite Gov. Gavin Newsom’s call to close indoor card rooms, tribal facilities in the central San Joaquin Valley remain open, sparking frustration within the California gaming community.
The California Gaming Association sent a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom on July 6, calling for the state to intervene in tribal casino gaming operations so that all gaming facilities are forced to close.
Tribes are not subject to state law due to their sovereignty, so they do not have to abide by the governor’s orders to close. Tribal-owned casinos have implemented safety precautions like mandatory mask-wearing, social distancing, sanitation measures, and capping the number of patrons.
Some Clovis teachers call for a union after district’s COVID-19 decision
Some Clovis teachers are considering forming the district’s first-ever teacher’s union following the school board’s unanimous decision last week to reopen campuses, despite surging coronavirus cases.
That decision was ultimately effectively reversed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. It would have given families and teachers a choice to return to campuses next month or remain exclusively online. At least one teacher, said there was a “blatant” lack of communication between the school board and teachers and that the board’s decision disregarded teacher safety.
Clovis is the largest non-union public school district in California. Instead of a union, teachers mobilize under a faculty senate. Senate members from each school serve as liaisons between the teachers and the administration. The district’s typically high-performing schools are often cited as examples of how education can work and even excel without union organization.
Salons, barbershops OK’d for outdoor service
California hair and nail salons can now operate outside under new guidance released by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office on Monday.
Just last week, salons and barbershops were troubled to learn a provision of the California Business and Professions Code would keep them from relocating outside.
Monday’s guidelines wave that code, saying “outdoor operations may be conducted under a tent, canopy, or other sun shelter as long as no more than one side is closed, allowing sufficient outdoor air movement.”
High school sports pushed into 2021
High school sports are done for the year.
The California Interscholastic Federation, the governing body for prep sports, said on Monday it had no choice but to delay the start of the fall sports season and push the entire sports calendar into 2021.
That’s as most California schools remain closed for on-campus instruction under a mandate by Newsom.
The Central Section, the CIF’s arm in the central San Joaquin Valley, will condense three seasons into two in a six-month window. Traditional winter sports basketball, soccer and wrestling slide into spring.
Football will maintain an 11-week season beginning Jan. 7, then go into four weeks of playoffs beginning in late March.
Other traditional fall sports — cross country, volleyball and water polo — slide into the same winter window.
The summer period will be extended from when the school year begins in August to December when the fall sports season begins — and only if state and local health officials say it’s safe. Under the new calendar, summer period for all sports started Monday and will last until Dec. 12.
This story was originally published July 21, 2020 at 8:29 AM.