Coronavirus updates: Tulare County’s numbers down; Parents rally as school wins in court
Nearly 30 more deaths in the central San Joaquin Valley related to the coronavirus were reported by health officials across the six counties on Tuesday and Wednesday..
Thirteen deaths were reported in Fresno County on Tuesday; four deaths were counted in Merced County, three in Kings County and one in Madera County.
Tulare County reported no deaths on Tuesday, but added eight in its Wednesday update.
In all, nearly 700 Valley residents have died of illness related to the coronavirus since the first fatality was reported in the region March 26. Of those, 244 deaths have occurred since Aug. 1 making this the deadliest month of the pandemic.
Fresno County has seen the largest number of deaths (239), followed by Tulare County (224). Merced County now has 110 deaths. Madera and Kings counties have fewer than 100 deaths each. Marisposa County continues to report just two.
The region has seen nearly 55,000 positive cases, according to data from the six counties. Fresno County has reported the most, with 23,618. Of the total cases in the Valley, more than 35,000 are considered recovered.
Positive daily cases, hospitalizations down in Tulare County
The average number of new positive coronavirus cases added to the Valley each day has declined this week. The region was adding an average of 954 new daily cases as of Sunday. That number dropped Tuesday to a two-week average of just under 800 cases.
In Tulare County, the number of new daily cases dropped to less than 100 cases on Wednesday. Last week, the county average 140 cases per day. That’s down from an average of more than 200 two weeks ago.
The 14-day new case rate, which marks the number of new cases per 100K residents, dropped from 535.2 on Sunday to 422.9 on Tuesday. That’s the lowest it’s been since mid-July and down from a peak of early 600 cases in early August.
The number of people being hospitalized by the coronavirus is also down in the county, according to state data. Over the past two weeks, the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 or suspected of having COVID-19 dropped from 90 people on Aug. 12 to 56 people as of Tuesday. The number of those patients needing treatment in ICU has remained much the same. Currently, 12 of the 56 patients are in ICU.
“It’s positive,” said Carrie Monteiro, Public Information Officer with the Tulare County Public Health Department.
“We welcome this positive trend and we ask the people of Tulare County to keep up the good work they are doing.”
Social gatherings are a major factor in the new cases that are being reported, with 40 percent of recent of cases traced to people mixing with those outside of their families at birthday parties and the like, Monteiro said. That could lead to another spike in cases, especially given the upcoming Labor Day holiday.
The county saw a spike in cases following the Fourth of July weekend.
No, you probably didn’t have COVID-19 earlier this year
Many people suspect they may have had COVID-19 in January of February of this year, before the pandemic hit the region and much of California shuttered.
There’s no way to prove it without a time machine, but Fresno County Interim Health Officer Dr. Rais Vohra said it’s unlikely.
“That doesn’t align with how we understand the epidemiology of this illness,” Vohra said. “Certainly, the numbers suggest this illness didn’t create a big burden of viral infection in the U.S. until early March, or maybe early February.”
Judge rules private school can remain open to students
A judge ruled on Tuesday that Immanuel Schools can remain open to students, rejecting Fresno County health official’s request for an injunction to have the school’s campus closed.
The county did not make a sufficient legal argument to justify the injunction the judge said, though a new hearing is on Sept. 15 to take up the matter again.
State health officials have prohibited all in-person instruction in Fresno County until the county gets off California’s COVID-19 monitoring list for 14 consecutive days. That has yet to occur. A case pending before the state Supreme Court could decide the issue of whether the state and county have the authority to order schools to close to protect the public health.
Prior to Tuesday’s hearing at Fresno’s B.F. Sisk courthouse, about 450 Immanuel Schools students, staff and community members came out to show their support. Many carried American flags, but few wore face masks or were socially distancing.
They cheered the judge’s decision.
Homeless advocate sets up Dream Camp under Highway 41
Conditions for the unhoused in Fresno have reached a breaking point under COVID-19, as California continues to clear out encampments near the highways, the city continues to shuffle the homeless and shelters consistently hover at capacity.
Many people have nowhere to go, according to longtime homeless advocate Dez Martinez, who has created a camp for transitory residents on a one-acre dirt lot under Highway 41, off Broadway Street. The so-called Dream Camp is capped at 14 people, who sleep in green Army tents and have access to a clean shower, porta-potty, a kitchen with ice coolers, a gas stove, and multiple lounge areas and tables.
Caltrans declined to comment on the encampment but said the agency has temporarily suspended encampment cleanups unless there is an immediate safety concern. The city says the camp breaks Fresno rules by having more than 10 homeless people live somewhere for more than 10 days — but the lot is not under the city’s jurisdiction.
The state has bigger fish to fry, said H Spees, director of strategic initiatives for Fresno Mayor Lee Brand’s office, including encampments along the highways with raging fires and multiple shootings.
This story was originally published August 26, 2020 at 8:31 AM.