Nearly $200 million in coronavirus funding on its way to Fresno area as local cases rise

More than $170 million is headed to the Fresno area for coronavirus testing and protective equipment as part of the third round of federal stimulus funding, a county official announced Tuesday.

Fresno County Administrative Officer Jean Rousseau outlined the funding during an online news conference late Tuesday afternoon.

Fresno County will receive $81 million from the federal government to address COVID-19 by April 26.

Rousseau said the city of Fresno will receive over $90 million from the CARES Act, the third federal stimulus bill passed in the pandemic.

The county’s share will go toward COVID-19 testing and contact tracing, as well as personal protective equipment and the information technology work it took to move one-third of the county’s employees to remote work. The details of how the money can be spent will be finalized by the federal government on April 24.

The county’s coronavirus case count increased by 20 on Tuesday to 371 cases. So far, 126 Fresno County residents have recovered from the coronavirus, and seven have died.

Rousseau said the county is working “feverishly” with local hospitals and clinics to ramp up testing.

Between materials and administration time, each test costs between $150 and $250, he said.

Rousseau said the funding would cover costs from March 1 through the end of the year. He described battling the virus as a “marathon.” Dealing with it aggressively in its initial stage, officials hope, will diminish the severity of later outbreaks.

“We know there may be a second or third round to this,” he said. “What that means is it will probably take us into the fall or later in the calendar year.”

Rousseau hopes the next round of funding will help the county cover lost revenues from sales and property taxes.

“That would be really helpful for us next year,” he said.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has extended shelter-in-place orders through May 1. County parks, however, will remain shuttered through at least May 10 in order to prevent a possible outbreak during Cinco de Mayo and Mother’s Day celebrations.

Fresno County testing

About 4,900 people have tested negative. Fresno County released a new dashboard Monday breaking down a number of case statistics, including age, gender and race.

Fresno County should be testing about 1,500 people a day for COVID-19, which is anywhere from six to 10 times more than the number of tests currently being conducted, Dr. Rais Vohra, the county’s interim health officer, said earlier this week.

About 150 to 250 Fresno County residents currently are tested for coronavirus each day, Vohra said Monday. Experts recommend 152 people per 100,000 get tested, Vohra said. There are just under 1 million people living in Fresno County.

Tulare has reported 22 deaths and a total of 436 cases. The county accounts for the majority of the now 35 deaths in the central San Joaquin Region.

Kings County had 32 positive cases, as of Tuesday morning. One person has died and five have recovered.

Merced County had 92 confirmed cases, according to an update on Tuesday. Three people have died and 28 have recovered.

Madera County had 36 cases as of Tuesday. Two people have died and 25 have recovered.

Mariposa County still has yet to report a confirmed coronavirus case among the 97 tests that have been taken; two result are pending.

This story was originally published April 21, 2020 at 4:22 PM.