A support team from the state met with Fresno County leaders on Monday about how to corral the COVID-19 surge in the Central Valley. Fresno County has just 11% of its 149 ICU beds available, according to public health officials. In the past 14 days alone, the county has seen...
What Will Online Learning Look Like This Time for Fresno Unified Students?
Fresno Unified School District students will have daily live instruction with their teachers when they start the school year with online learning on Aug. 17 — and for all students, from transitional kindergarten through high school, the school day starts at 9 a.m. Their teachers will instruct either from home...
Who Will Go to the Front of the Line for COVID-19 Vaccine?
The National Governors Association says the availability of a future COVID-19 vaccine will likely be limited due to manufacturing constraints. The NGA issued a memorandum Monday telling state leaders that difficult decisions concerning vaccine allocation and prioritization will occur. Meanwhile, shortages of the antiviral drug remdesivir may give an early indication...
With Loan Money Gone, Restaurants Are at Mercy of Virus
NEW YORK — The check has arrived and beleaguered restaurant owners across America are looking down on their empty wallets. Government coronavirus loans in the spring helped eating establishments rehire laid-off employees and ride out the pandemic's initial surge and wave of shutdown orders. But that Paycheck Protection Program money...
Parents Struggle as Schools Reopen Amid Coronavirus Surge
DALLAS, Ga. — Putting your child on the bus for the first day of school is always a leap of faith for a parent. Now, on top of the usual worries about youngsters adjusting to new teachers and classmates, there’s COVID-19. Rachel Adamus was feeling those emotions at sunrise Monday...
County Has ‘Unchecked Community Spread,’ ICU Beds Below 10%
Fresno County only meets one of the coronavirus metrics the state has set —testing, public health officials said Friday. The county is running over 2,100 tests a day, about 600 more than the state's goal. But the county falls short on everything else. The COVID-19 positivity rate is at 11.4%...
Madera High Student Tests Positive for COVID-19, School Shutters Athletics
Madera High School has suspended all athletic workouts after a student-athlete tested positive for COVID-19, athletic director John Fernandez said Thursday. The student, who was not identified, was exposed this month to the coronavirus by a person off campus and away from all school facilities and activities. Positive Test Reported...
Bredefeld Leads Call for School Reopenings. Hospital Urges Caution.
Fresno City Councilman Garry Bredefeld says schools should reopen based on the data. Valley Children's Hospital says schools should remain closed, based on the data. In fact, "data" was uttered at least 34 times by the speakers at an hour-plus City Hall news conference organized Thursday morning by Bredefeld. Bredefeld...
COVID-19 Infections Impact the Heart Months After Patients Recover
Long-term cardiovascular consequences of COVID-19 are possible, according to two studies out this week. The German studies, published Tuesday in the peer-reviewed journal JAMA Cardiology, found heart abnormalities in COVID-19 patients months after they had recovered from the virus. Study Raises 'Significant Concerns,' Says UCSF Fresno Heart Doctor "The results from...
Misinformation on Coronavirus Is Proving Highly Contagious
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — As the world races to find a vaccine and a treatment for COVID-19, there is seemingly no antidote in sight for the burgeoning outbreak of coronavirus conspiracy theories, hoaxes, anti-mask myths and sham cures. The phenomenon, unfolding largely on social media, escalated this week when President Donald...