Page 15 - Mid Valley Times 7-16-20 E-edition

Thursday, July 16, 2020
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Mid Valley TiMes
COVID-19 Continued from page A1
economic hit from CO- VID-19 stretching back to March — quickly took steps toward those op- tions.
Some even were pre- emptive. Two dining es- tablishments in down- town Reedley — Main- street Cafe and Willie's Cafe — last week began setting up outdoor tables for diners to be able to eat on-site. After Newsom's mandate on Monday, they became a necessity.
Shawn Luallen with Mainstreet Cafe said the restaurant received permission from their neighboring businesses to set up outdoor tables and seating along the sidewalk on G Street during weekends. It's already been a popular spot for breakfasts.
Also setting up at least two outdoor tables was Willie's Cafe on 11th Street just east of G Street. Diners were un- deterred by warm lunch- time temperatures, sit- ting to grab a quick lunch.
"We set these [tables] up last week," said Dom- inic Segura of Willie's Cafe. "It turned out to be very timely."
Restaurants in the re-
DUSD
Continued from page A10
to Armstrong, also recognizes the possibility of a student or staff member testing positive for COVID-19, something she acknowledged the district as- sumes may happen. In those cases, the class or depart- ment with the infection would
COVID-19 update
Through the afternoon of Tuesday, July 14, there had been 8,756 confirmed cases (6,482 active) of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Fresno County, with 91 deaths.
Among Mid Valley Times cities, Sanger (including the region to the northeast) had the most positive cases with 494 while Reedley jumped to 377 cases, Parlier climbed to 362 cases and Orange Cove had 216 cases. Del Rey was at 31 cases while Fowler had
69 cases. The county reported that 2,183 of the positive cases (24.9 percent)hadrecovered. In Tulare County, there were 5,942 confirmed cases (2,054 active) of COVID-19 with 152 deaths as of 11 a.m. on Tuesday, July 14. Breakdowns by cities/ regions show 726 cases in Dinuba, 250 in Orosi, 131 in Cutler, 33 in Traver and less than 11 each in rural areas south of Reedley and east of Orange Cove. A total of 3,736 people had recovered from the virus in Tulare County.
Rick Curiel / Mid Valley Times
At St. Catherine’s Catholic Church in Dinuba, First Communion services that were origi- nally scheduled for early May were finally able to commence on July 11, just two days before Gov. Gavin Newsom's new order again halted indoor services. The church will be moving some services outside for the time being.
gion, finally getting the opportunity to provide sit-down dining when the state moved into Phase 3 of reopening, again are forced to rely on people ordering takeout. And the many barbershops, salons and nail establish- ments in the hub cities as well as communities like Parlier, Orange Cove and Cutler-Orosi again face financial hardship from closures or servic- es provided outdoors or in private residences.
The city of Reedley
on July 13 issued a news release giving options on how businesses can adjust their operating models.
"Businesses...that would like to move their operations outdoor to a public space are en- couraged to call City Hall at (559) 637-4200, ext. 212 to explore ideas on how to safely accom- modate business activi- ties," the release stated. "Businesses that wish to utilize private space should contact the pri-
vate property owner and coordinate with the city to ensure necessary reg- ulations are followed."
Then, there are the churches which only re- cently received the OK to again hold indoor ser- vices with extremely limited seating capaci- ties before the July 13 ac- tion. Larger churches like Reedley Mennonite Breth- ren Churchs and Catho- lic churches in Reedley, Sanger and Dinuba al- ready had been limited to 100 people in attendance.
St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Reed- ley began an immediate conversion to daily out- door Mass in the new pa- vilion area at nearby St. La Salle Catholic School. The church set up phys- ical-distance chair seat- ing underneath the shad- ed open-air shelter, and can be set up in different directions depending on the time of day and how sunlight was hitting the facility.
St. Catherine's Cath- olic Church in Dinuba also is in the process of holding outdoor Mass.
There is no timetable to the state's mandate in dialing back from Stage 3 reopening. Newsom said the move was nec- essary to curb a contin- ued rise in positive test numbers, which had sur- passed 8,500 active cas- es in Fresno and Tulare counties as of Tuesday, July 14.
be quarantined for two weeks while further testing is con- ducted. In the event of an out- break, she said it is possible that an entire school could momentarily stop in-person classes and transition to all distance learning.
But for the plan to work, Armstrong said the district needs to focus on staff devel-
opment and preparation.
“We really have to support our teachers in this transi-
tion,” she expressed. Nationwide, many teach-
ers have expressed concerns in returning to the classrooms during a still uncertain pan- demic. But there have been other concerns raised by those who will now be taking
on the teacher roll at home. Board Trustee Sandra Ka- zarian shared a story with the board that she said broke her heart. While recently shopping at a local store, she couldn’t help but notice a per- son behind her in the checkout lane with a cart full of school
supplies.
“I told her I hope it goes
well when school starts,” Ka- zarian shared. “She nearly started crying and she said, ‘I know nothing. I cannot teach my child at home. I don’t know how to do anything. How am I going to teach him’?”
Armstrong responded, “I know. This situation is heart- breaking for all of us.”
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