Responding to feedback from businesses and farmers, Merced County Health Officer Dr. Ken Bird on Thursday suspended part of a recent order requiring businesses to develop COVID-19 social distancing and safety plans. The order was to have gone into effect on Friday. The plan called for limiting capacity (five people...
Bakersfield Doctors' Statements Called 'Reckless, Untested Musings'
It was news that sounded too good to be true. And, critics say it was. Two doctors who are co-owners of Accelerated Urgent Care in Bakersfield held a news conference last week to say that California's statewide stay at home order is an unnecessary response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Their...
Fresno State Has Free Online Courses for 1st Responders, Essential Workers
Contributed by Fresno State News In support of those who continue to work and provide service to the public during the COVID-19 pandemic, Fresno State’s Division of Continuing and Global Education is offering three online, professional development courses free for local first responders and essential workers. The online courses are...
After ‘Crazy’ Fines, City Explains Nonessential Curbside Pickup Ban
The city of Fresno is being criticized for levying fines against a furniture retailer for curbside pickup of online sales. Crazy Bernie Furniture, known for its zany TV ads, received a $5,000 fine Wednesday — its second since the city's shelter-in-place order deemed furniture retailers nonessential. The criticism came quickly,...
Interested in Medical School? Don’t Let Missing MCAT Stop You.
College graduates who want to go to medical school are running into a hurdle created by the COVID-19 pandemic. They aren't able to take the standardized Medical College Admission Test, and some can't finish prerequisite courses due to campus shutdowns. The MCAT, which is scheduled at a public venue, has...
Trump Says He Won’t Extend Social Distancing Guidelines
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Wednesday the federal government will not be extending its coronavirus social distancing guidelines once they expire Thursday, and his son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner, predicted that by July the country will be “really rocking again.” Putting a positive face on the latest grim numbers...
Councilman Wants Fresno’s Shelter-in-Place Order Extended Through May
Bucking the trend of four of his Fresno City Council colleagues, Nelson Esparza did not make a policy announcement by holding an in-person news conference. Instead, he advocated for extending the city's shelter-in-place order through at least May 31 with a news release and subsequent Zoom interview. Esparza tells GV...
COVID-19 Cases Surpass 600 in Tulare County. Fresno County Exceeds 500.
COVID-19 infections pushed past 600 confirmed cases in Tulare County in the past 24 hours, health officials said Wednesday. The updated case count was reported on the county health department's website and in a Facebook video. The 48 new cases represent the largest single-day jump in confirmed infections for the county....
Laotian-American Dean’s Medalist Eyes Medical School and Serving the Valley
Bagieng Keophimphone was in middle school when his father suffered his first stroke and was hospitalized. There were no doctors who could speak Laotian, so Keophimphone helped translate for his father and saw firsthand how language can be a barrier for health care. Today, there are still very few doctors...
Attention, Costco Shoppers: Masks Required Starting Monday
Starting Monday, every customer entering Costco must wear a face covering. That's a change from its policy of encouraging customers to wear masks. Face Mask Requirements Costco posted an update to the COVID-19 section of its website Wednesday morning: "To protect our members and employees, effective May 4, all Costco members...