Coronavirus update: Fresno elected officials write Gavin Newsom, but for different reasons
As hospital capacity in Fresno shrinks due to the coronavirus pandemic, Fresno-area politicians are appealing to California Gov. Gavin Newsom for relief – but the messages differ.
State Sen. Andreas Borgeas, R-Fresno, this week sent a request to Newsom and his Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly seeking the data used to justify a new round of restaurant closures.
“It is incredibly difficult to make sound public health policy without premising data,” Borgeas said.
He noted that while Los Angeles County produced data showing restaurants accounted for 3.1% of COVID-19 cases there, the counties he represents (including Fresno, Tuolumne and Stanislaus) don’t make such data available.
“Just as restaurants and businesses have worked hard to comply with your administration’s guidelines, it is incumbent upon the state to reciprocate their collaborative efforts,” Borgeas said.
Meanwhile, Fresno City Councilmember Luis Chavez, a moderate Democrat, sent a letter to Newsom requesting Fresno and other San Joaquin Valley counties be made a priority when distributing the COVID-19 vaccine.
Chavez pointed out that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ranked Fresno and other Valley counties as the most vulnerable regions in the country on the Social Vulnerability Index.
“The Central Valley is the bread basket of the nation,” Chavez wrote. “If those folks get sick and can’t work, the country won’t get fed — literally. It is critical that we prioritize our efforts where we can maximize the most beneficial outcomes, and that can be done right here in the city of Fresno.”
Thanksgiving Day numbers
California’s Department of Public Health reported on Thanksgiving Day that there were 328 additional COVID-19 cases for Fresno County through Wednesday night.
Countywide, this past week’s daily new case rate has averaged to about 300 cases per day, according to the state data.
Fresno’s 14-day average positivity rate just barely surpassed 10% on Thursday, making it much higher than the state’s 6% average.
Six additional intensive care unit hospital beds were available Thursday, bringing the county’s total to 20. Countywide, 275 people were hospitalized with coronavirus when including confirmed and suspected COVID patients, a decline of 13 from the previous day but still higher than in any other prior day this month.
Forty-seven confirmed or suspected coronavirus patients were in the ICU, an increase of five from the day before.
Tulare County reported 209 new cases, according to the state website, while Madera had 108, Merced 78 and Kings County 79.
Each of those counties remain in the state’s Purple Tier, meaning there’s widespread risk of the virus and many indoor business and other activities remain closed or restricted.
Mariposa County, the lone central San Joaquin Valley County not in the purple tier for infections, had no new cases added to its total.
Aid for Latino-led organizations
The Latino Community Foundation doled out another $2 million to 43 Latino-led organizations across the state, many in the Central Valley, for COVID-19 and wildfire relief.
The grants are for organizations helping Latinos, who have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic, and for families displaced by wildfires.
“This year has brought one crisis after another for Latinos in California — a global health crisis, economic recession, raging wildfires, and high levels of toxic stress. Together, we are facing each challenge with love, not fear,” said Masha Chernyak, vice president of programs for Latino Community Foundation. “Latinos make up 92% of farmworkers in California. They have labored in the fields through the pandemic and wildfire smoke to make sure we have food on our tables. Now it’s our turn to make sure they have food on theirs— especially during Thanksgiving and upcoming Holiday season.”
Organizations that received grants include Fresno Barrios Unidos, California Farmworker Foundation, The Latino Commission, Lideres Campesinas, Vision y Compromiso, PIQE, ExpresArte Wellness Collective, Urbanist Arts Collective and more.
Hospital capacity shrinks
The ongoing surge of new cases in Fresno County and the broader six-county region is driving an increase in the number of patients who are sick enough to require hospitalization for treatment of the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus. At the same time hospitals are already dealing with more patients for other illnesses and injuries.
According to state hospital licensing data, Fresno County hospitals have a combined 149 licensed intensive-care unit beds. But as of Tuesday, between coronavirus patients and other seriously ill ICU patients, the state reported that local hospitals were down to only 14 intensive-care beds available for more patients.
Why some can’t afford free COVID-19 tests
Besides the big cities, the rural farmworker communities of Fresno County have been hardest hit by the pandemic. But eight months into the virus, frontline workers and their families in small towns continue to avoid what experts deem a key step in overcoming the virus — testing.
For some, access to testing remains too remote. Others just never find out that a testing event is happening until it’s too late. Overwhelmingly, however, people in Fresno’s most impoverished communities fear that taking a test will result in nothing but losing their job, missed rent and mounting bills.
Public health officials say relief is available, regardless of immigration status. But it may be too little too late, and outreach efforts remain out of touch with the community, advocates said.
The state of California has mandated two weeks of paid leave for all employees. But employers have little incentive to remind them of what’s available, Fox said, and workers with precarious immigration status are often scared to demand it, advocates explained.
In partnership with the state, Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission launched Healthy Harvest in the summer, a program for farmworkers to get a free hotel room, meals, and transportation if they test positive or as they await a test.
So far, only five people have used their services, according to Kristine Morgan, communications manager for EOC, “but the word is just starting to get out there.”
Armando Valdez, director of Community Center for the Arts and Technology in Fresno, said the program was failing because it doesn’t take culture into consideration.
Read more from Fresno Bee reporter Manuela Tobias.
This story was originally published November 26, 2020 at 9:59 AM.