The South Valley is now seeking to reverse a bleak outlook in its battle with the coronavirus.
Tulare County officials raised the alarm, saying “stay home” orders could be returned if the increase in COVID-19 cases cannot be stifled.
“What we do in the next three weeks will determine our immediate future when it comes to the possibility of reopening the phone or incurring more returns,” said supervisor Amy Shuklian.
In the past three weeks, the number of positive cases in Tulare County went from 160.2 per 100,000 residents to 329.3 cases. That’s a 105% increase.
“This is an alarming trend that, if allowed to continue, may result in additional businesses and entertainment sectors closing, as well as affecting the ability of our schools to return students to the classroom,” said the Director of the Timothy Lutz Health and Human Services Agency
Kaweah Delta CEO Gary Herbst described an exhausted and decimated workforce.
“We have had more than 150 of our employees who contracted the virus, many of them front line workers who take care of these patients. Today I have 50 nurses in quarantine at home,” he said.
Tulare County is one of 19 counties ordered by the state to eliminate indoor services in restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues due to rising COVID-19 rates.
Governor Newsom indicated that agencies like Alcohol Beverage Control and Cal / OSHA would help enforce those orders.
“I don’t want to have to shift gears and become a law enforcement arm, but I will say this: As your sheriff, I will help any code enforcement officer, any law enforcement agency that comes into the area to those who blatantly ignore, “said Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux.
Sheriff Boudreaux said that only 13 of the nearly 1,000 inmates inside the Tulare County Jail tested positive.
Medical experts expected the coronavirus to behave like a flu virus and that cases would decrease in the summer heat.
“What we see now is the reality and the reality is that the heat does not seem to be diminishing the infection, so we will have to be vigilant,” said Dr. Sharon Minnick of the HHSA.
Nursing homes served as a major source of the initial COVID-19 increase in the southern valley, but now account for 15% of all positive cases.
For more news coverage on coronavirus and COVID-19, visit ABC30.com/coronavirus
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