A new website that lets Fresno County residents sign up for COVID-19 testing at Fresno City College without a doctor's referral is up and running, interim county health officer Rais Vohra said Monday afternoon. Vohra said he was one of the residents tested earlier Monday at the new test site...
Shirinian Quits as Brand Advisor: I Don’t Think He is a Good Leader
Fed up with the way Mayor Lee Brand announced his shelter-in-place extension, restaurateur Mike Shirinian resigned from Brand's advisory committee in dramatic fashion on Friday — live on Ray Appleton's show on KMJ radio. Shirinian, owner of The Elbow Room in Fresno and Riley's Brew Pub in Clovis, was one of...
Newsom Says Some Business Can Reopen This Week. Restaurants May Soon Follow.
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom says the state will move into the second phase of his reopening plan as early as Friday, allowing lower-risk workplaces to resume operations with modifications to help prevent spread of the coronavirus. The plan outlined Monday includes a range of retailers that would be permitted...
Clovis Wants to Reopen, Is Reaching Out to Newsom
The Clovis City Council will vote Monday night whether to rescind its emergency orders — closing bars, dine-in restaurants, and gyms and limiting the use of city parks — and rely on the state's stay-at-home order instead. That doesn't necessarily mean these businesses will reopen. The goal, according to a...
COVID-19 Testing Starts at Merced County Fairgrounds
The Merced County Fairgrounds is the newest COVID-19 testing in the county, public health officials announced Sunday. Because of the expected high demand, testing is open to all Merced County residents who want to be tested. However, scheduling is by appointment only. Walk-ins will not be accepted. How to Register...
How Cafes, Bars, Gyms, Barbershops and Other ‘Third Places’ Create Our Social Fabric
Social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic implies many painful losses. Among them are so-called “third places” – the restaurants, bars, gyms, houses of worship, barbershops, and other places we frequent that are neither work nor home. The third place is a concept in sociology and urban planning that recognizes the...
Fresno City College Will Be New Site for Free COVID-19 Tests
Fresno City College has been selected as one of 80 COVID-19 testing sites in California, marking an expansion of the state's test capabilities, Fresno County Health Director David Pomaville said Friday morning. The state's goal is to conduct 10,500 tests daily, which will enable health officials statewide to more quickly...
Smartphone Tracking: Fresno County Residents Tired of Staying Home
Over six weeks ago, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued the stay-at-home order. That was March 19th. By and large, people took the order seriously and stayed home, according to smartphone tracking data by Safegraph. However, it appears "cabin fever" has set in. More people, according to their smartphones, are starting to...
Free COVID-19 Testing For Rural Areas, Fresno County Enrolls Patients
UC San Francisco scientists are offering free sample analysis and test results, indefinitely, to all 58 county departments of public health in California. "What it means is that we will probably be able to enroll somewhere between 30 and 50 patients every week into that study, and I really wanted...
Fresno County: 500-700 Daily COVID Tests, but Number Is Likely Higher
The key to relaxing social distancing rules is testing. The question is, when will Fresno County hit the benchmark? Dr. Rais Vohra, interim Fresno County health officer, says, "We're doing between 500 to 700 hundred tests a day in the county." The good news? We may be doing a lot more...