Coronavirus updates: Foster Farms reopens; Outdoor dining gets boost in Tower District
Fresno County surpassed 26,000 positive cases of the coronavirus over Labor Day weekend.
The county added 324 new cases on Sunday and Monday and has now seen 26,471 positive cases, according to the state’s department of public health. Of those, 13,458 are considered recovered.
Three-hundred and twelve people have died from the coronavirus in Fresno County, including the nearly two dozen deaths reported on Friday. The county will update its death numbers again on Tuesday afternoon.
The coronavirus has been linked to the deaths of 811 people across the six-county central San Joaquin Valley region. Tulare County has 243 deaths as of Friday, the last day it updated. Merced County has reported 120 related deaths; Kings County 76; Madera County 58 and Mariposa County two deaths.
As of Friday, the six counties have been adding an average of 539 new cases each day for the last two weeks. Tulare County reported 139 new cases in an update on Tuesday, bringing the county to 14,816 positive cases since the pandemic began.
The region now counts more than 60,000 positive cases..
Foster Farms reopens after outbreak
Foster Farms Livingston processing facility reopened Monday night after a forced shutdown for nearly a week due to a massive coronavirus outbreak last month.
The outbreak was linked to more than 350 infections and the deaths of eight employees. That’s 18% of COVID-19 deaths in Merced County under age 65, 7% of total deaths in Merced County and four out of 10 coronavirus deaths in the city of Livingston.
During the closure, all plant workers had to receive two negative COVID-19 tests no more than seven days apart and the facility had to ensure adequate social distancing in break spaces and areas of potential congregation. The facilities had an extensive third-party deep cleaning and safety training and communication was provided to employees in English, Spanish and Punjabi.
More outdoor dining coming for Tower District restaurants
A temporary outdoor dining “parklet” opened at Irene’s Cafe on Friday — one of three to be installed over the next week. The others will go in front of Revue Coffee Bar and the Lincoln Pub. Permanent raised structures with planter boxes and table umbrellas will be installed along Olive Avenue over the next month.
The “parklets” were paid for with $3,500 grants distributed from the city’s allotment of $600,000 in CARES Act money to help restaurants create outdoor dining spaces in response to COVID-19 guidelines. Five other Tower District restaurants have applied for the grants, which are available to restaurants citywide.
This story was originally published September 8, 2020 at 8:57 AM.