Page 16 - Mid Valley Times 9-17-20 E-edition

Thursday, September 17, 2020 | A16 | Mid Valley TiMes
IMMANUEL Continued from page A1
tion were denied is mon- umental in comparison to the harm defendants would likely suffer if the preliminary injunction were issued."
The ruling allows Fresno County health of- ficials to issue the order for Immanuel Schools to "immediately cease and desist from conducting, participating in or at- tending in-person class instruction at the Im- manuel Schools proper- ty..." The county was ex- pected to submit the pro- posed order to the court by 3 p.m. Sept. 16, and would then likely serve it to school officials.
In a statement issued shortly after the rul- ing, Immanuel officials expressed their disap- pointment but vowed to continue to fight to re- main open to on-campus instruction."
"While today's deci-
COVID-19 Continued from page A1
14,657, more than 95 per- cent of the 15,361 con- firmed positive tests.
Dinuba remained the highest number of Mid Valley Times cities with positive tests, totaling 1,722. But only 105 cases were in the last three weeks. and COVID pa- tients in Dinuba Health- care had dipped by 24 to 70. Overall, there ap- peared to be no major spikes from the Labor Day holiday weekend.
In Fresno County, ac- tive cases for the week
sion is a setback, we know that God is still at work in our situation and we will continue to seek His will," the state- ment read. "During the last five weeks we have seen God's hand move nightly on our campus and throughout our com- munity, without a single COVID related illness among our students, fac- ulty or families."
Immanuel Schools has been conducting in-person instruction of students on cam- pus since beginning its school year on Aug. 13. Tharpe had ruled in fa- vor of the school on Aug. 25, turning down an "ex parte" application for an immediate injunction citing that Fresno Coun- ty had failed to make a sufficient showing of ur- gency to issue an injunc- tion. The county then took legal steps to pro- vide that documentation.
On Sept. 10, the Cali- fornia Supreme Court
of Sept. 8-15 also were down by 755, from 11,839 to 10,084. Deaths for the week jumped by 11, but hospitalizations for the week declined by 35, eight in ICU. New fig- ures released late Mon- day night showed 16,307 recoveries, put the coun- ty just above 60 percent.
Reedley continued to post the highest total number of positive cases, but "under investigation" cases including active declined from 529 to 458. Sanger (444), and Parlier (382) both had more than 1,000 total positive cases but reduced active cases.
didn't issue an opinion, and didn't offer to re- view a petition by Im- manuel and other pri- vate Christian schools to remain open and overrule California Gov. Gavin Newsom's emer- gency order closing campuses to in-person instruction.
In his ruling, Thar- pe determined that it was "reasonably prob- able" that Fresno Coun- ty would prevail on the merits of the case. He cited the state's mea- sures to curb COVID-19 and the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that a community has a "right to protect itself against an epidemic of disease which threatens the safety of its members."
Immanuel officials said the schools' Board of Trustee would meet later Sept. 15 to determine their next course of ac- tion, which would include a cross complaint against Fresno County.
"We still believe strongly that we have the constitutional right to provide the on-cam- pus education that all students need and de- serve while also leaving that decision up to our families," the schools' statement read.
The morning of Tharpe's ruling, more than 50 Immanuel par- ents, staff and support- ers gathered to pray in small circles at the Im- manuel Sports Complex south of Reedley.
COVID-19 update
As of 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 15, there had been 27,232 confirmed cases (10,084 active) of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) out of 243,681 tests (10.5 percent)inFresnoCounty, with 337 deaths and 101 currently hospitalized. Among Mid Valley Times cities, Reedley leads the way with the most positive cases at 1,327 while Sanger is at 1,294 cases; Parlier is listed with 1,059 cases and Orange Cove had 630 cases. Del Rey was at 116 cases while Fowler had 229 cases. Squaw Valley and Dunlap had 17 and five positive cases,
respectively. The county reported that 16,307 of the positive cases (59.8 percent) had recovered. In Tulare County, there were 15,361 confirmed cases (451 active) of COVID-19 with 253 deaths and 42 hospitalized as of midday on Tuesday, Sept. 15. Breakdowns by cities/ regions show 1,722 cases in Dinuba, 565 in Orosi, 307 in Cutler, 80 in Traver, 14 in the rural area south of Reedley and four in the rural area southeast of Orange Cove.
A total of 14,657 people (95.4 percent) had recovered from the virus in Tulare County.
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