Coronavirus updates: Home buying in the pandemic; How can schools thwart state watch list?

Fresno County continues to see daily increases in positive coronavirus testing in excess of 300 cases. The county added 357 new cases on Saturday, according to state data and has now has now seen a total of 23,197 positive cases — by far the most cases of the six counties in the central San Joaquin Valley.

As of Friday, the region was adding an average of 926 new cases each day.

The region has now seen more than 53,000 positive cases since March, including 314 new cases reported in Tulare County on Monday.

Tulare County added six new coronavirus-related deaths on Monday, bringing the total number of people killed by the virus in the county to 216.

That’s 10 deaths less than neighboring Fresno County, which on Friday reported another 21 people had died of the coronavirus. It has now been the cause of death for 226 people since early April. Of those, 88 were reported since Aug. 1, making this the deadliest month of the pandemic for the county. Sixty-five related deaths were reported in the county in July.

The number of reported deaths in Merced, Madera and Kings County remain in double digits, with Mariposa County reporting just two deaths.

Across the six-county region, 654 people have died of the coronavirus since March. With two week left, the death count across the Valley in August has now tied that of July, when 206 people were reported to have died from the virus.

Fresno housing market is hot

Despite the global pandemic and associated financial instabilities and unemployment numbers, Fresno’s housing market is booming, even as the way people view and buy homes has changed.

Record-breaking low interest rates — between 2.5% and 3.25% — and an influx of out-of-town cash buyers means there are bidding wars on the limited housing stock. According to Movoto Real Estate, the number of available homes in Fresno County is 53% lower today compared to this time last year. As of Aug. 18, there were a total of 402 active homes for sale in comparison to 862 homes listed in mid-August of 2019.

How can Fresno-area schools thwart COVID-19 watch list?

As several private schools open up their campuses under the guise of day camps, local health departments have found their hands tied, even though schools that are in counties on the state’s coronavirus watchlist have been ordered to remain closed.

On Friday, the Tulare County Health Department said it is aware of local schools, including Central Valley Christian, choosing to operate as day camps, which are currently allowed under state guidelines. Furthermore, the public health department has no regulatory authority or oversight of day camps, and therefore cannot approve or deny a school from operating as such.

For their part, Fresno County health officials said they are waiting for clarification from the state to move forward. Dr. Rais Vohra, the county’s interim health officer, said checking on schools requires a lot of “information gathering,” to find out if the campus is actually offering day camp activities.

Violinist sets up Taco Truck tour. Tips go to charity

Starting Monday, Fresno violinist Patrick Contreras is embarking on an odd kind of music tour.

For the next four days, Contreras will perform at a different taco truck each night. At each stop, he’ll have a donation bucket where people can leave tips that will benefit the Legacy Commons Community Studio. Contreras hopes to raise enough money — $3,000 or so— to buy 10 Ibanez acoustic-electric guitars for an informal after-school music program at the studio.

All performances start at 7 p.m.

This being a pandemic, these won’t be traditional concerts, Contreras says. So, don’t bring chairs.

This story was originally published August 24, 2020 at 8:25 AM.