Fresno County adds 2 deaths, 337 COVID-19 cases. Here’s what the sheriff is doing
Fresno County added 337 new cases of the coronavirus on Thursday and two more people have died from the virus, health officials said two days before the Fourth of July.
The county now has 5,626 positive cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, including 77 fatal cases.
Since March, at least 259 people have died across the central San Joaquin Valley.
In Fresno County, 1,305 people have recovered from the virus and 385 have been hospitalized.
In response to the rise in cases in the Valley, Gov. Gavin Newsom began announcing closures for many businesses earlier in the week for counties with growing numbers, like Fresno, Tulare, Merced and Kings. Bars and family entertainment centers have been ordered to close altogether while restaurants have to go back to seating outdoors and selling to-go orders only.
Some sheriffs in the central San Joaquin Valley said Thursday they are expecting people to voluntarily comply with mask and closure orders.
Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims said in a statement the Public Health Department is working with Alcoholic Beverage Control to enforce bar closures.
“Even though the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office has concurrent jurisdiction in our cities, we do not have the resources to provide these services for them,” she said. “We have all been encouraging voluntary compliance.”
Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke said in a video message that residents should not take the virus lightly, but that deputies would not enforce orders.
“It’s bad, and I want everybody to take it seriously,” Warnke said. “Wear your masks, do your social distancing, wash your hands.”
Most of the long-running community fireworks displays have been canceled this year due to COVID-19.
Cases around the Valley
Tulare County reported an additional 198 cases and five deaths in an update Thursday morning. That brings the countywide total to 4,521 cases and 133 deaths.
Merced County reported another 77 cases on Thursday, which brings the total to 1,208. There was no change to the tally of 11 fatal cases.
Madera County did not report any deaths on Thursday, leaving the total at five. Another 23 positive cases reported that day brings the total to 564.
Mariposa County reported one more case on Thursday to bring its total to 27 positive cases. There was no change to the single death.
More than 2.7 million people in the country have tested positive for COVID-19, including more than 240,000 Californians, according to The COVID Tracking Project and Johns Hopkins University CSSE. More than 6,000 people in the state have died from issues related to the virus, and more than 128,500 nationally.
Merced Sun-Star reporter Abbie Lauten-Scrivner contributed to this report.
This story was originally published July 2, 2020 at 3:48 PM.
