Coronavirus updates: Infections in Yosemite?; inside look at pressure to reopen Fresno

California now has the highest number of positive coronavirus cases in the country — more than 425,600 since the pandemic began, according to the latest state public health data released on Thursday. New York has seen more than 409,000 cases, by comparison.

This as the state reported a record-high 12,807 new cases on Wednesday.

The central San Joaquin Valley has reported an average of 613 new cases each day for the past two weeks.

There were nearly 1,000 new cases reported on Thursday.

Tulare County added another 334 cases in an update Friday, bringing the total in the six-county region to 28,428. Of those, well over half, more than 15,000, are considered active. More than 12,000 have recovered from the virus.

Three-hundred and sixty-three people have died, including three deaths reported on Thursday: two in Madera County and one in Merced County. There have been 117 coronavirus-related deaths in the region in July. In June, 112 people died.

Fresno County continues to lead the region in both total (11,756) and active cases (8,160). Tulare County continues to have the highest number of deaths (168), though the county has not reported a new death since Tuesday.

Children can get sick, or worse, doctors warn

Fresno pediatricians and other officials said they are troubled by a narrative being parroted by some individuals that children are not prone to getting sick from the coronavirus, or worse.

It affects children differently than adults, yes, but they are still susceptible to getting the potentially fatal virus and passing it around, officials with Valley Children’s Hospital in Madera said Thursday.

In the Valley, about 12% of the cases that have tested positive are children under the age of 18. That’s higher than the state average of about 8.7%.

At Valley Children’s, 6,473 children have been tested and 8% came back positive through Wednesday, according to David Christensen, senior vice president of medical affairs and chief physician executive at Valley Children’s.

Of those sick children, 69 have had to be hospitalized.

Coronavirus in Yosemite?

A Yosemite National Park resident has tested positive for COVID-19, according to an email from National Park Service leaders to some employees last week.

It’s the first known case of someone testing positive for coronavirus at the popular California destination, which had more than 4.5 million visitors last year. Last week, Mariposa County Department of Public Health said sewage tests showed dozens of people with coronavirus in Yosemite, but declined to answer a question about whether anyone in the park had actually tested positive for the contagious virus, citing privacy concerns. County officials referred the question to the park; Yosemite officials referred it to the county.

Yosemite officials haven’t publicly announced a coronavirus case in the park.

The email to staff from Yosemite’s leadership team is dated July 17. It states park leaders learned that week of a Yosemite resident testing positive for COVID-19.

Latino leaders want audit of Fresno County’s coronavirus spending

In a letter this week to Gov. Gavin Newsom, the Latino Legislative Caucus called for Newsom to require businesses to report infections and to investigate local governments’ use of federal relief funds; explicitly calling into question Fresno County officials for failing to address the needs of rural communities.

The caucus is concern with the growing number of coronavirus cases among Latinos, particularly those working in factories, fields, and offices. As one of the hardest-hit demographics in the state, Latinos represent nearly 60% of all cases and 45% of all deaths, according to the letter’s co-authors.

Emails reveal business leaders pushed to reopen Fresno early

In late May, the Fresno business community pressured county officials to reopen its economy after two months of shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic — earlier than the rest of the state.

Dozens of records obtained by The Fresno Bee through a Public Records Act request detail the often contentious discussions that took place behind the scenes leading up to the county’s reopening plan request to the state, and soon after.

The records reveal the back-and-forth discussions between business owners — primarily restaurateurs — and government officials as the county worked to submit its plan to the state for approval. The plan, lowering local standards, was approved and dine-in restaurants reopened May 21, 10 days before the state opened much of the rest of the economy on May 31.

The reopening has now been recognized as a contributing factor in the recent spike of COVID-19 infections, said Dr. Rais Vohra, interim health officer in Fresno County. The county is now seeing a surge of cases that has prompted the deployment of federal medical workers to help.

Coalinga may lose coronavirus aid for allowing businesses to reopen early

California’s Office of Emergency Services director is asking the city of Coalinga in Fresno County to rescind a local resolution to keep businesses open or risk being ineligible for more than $200,000 in state coronavirus relief funding.

In May, the Coalinga City Council passed a resolution on a 4-1 vote to allow all businesses to reopen at the discretion of owners.

At least one city councilmember has said the state does not have the authority to withhold federal money from cities and that the city will sue the governor if need be.

This story was originally published July 24, 2020 at 8:49 AM.