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CALIFORNIA
3:05pm
California, as of May 5, has 58,815 cases of COVID-19. That's an increase of over 2,600 cases compared to the prior day. 2,412 have died - a daily increase of 95.
809, 036 tests have been conducted. Cases among healthcare workers have reached 6,368. 36 deaths have occured statewide.
State officials today launched an interactive website to help Californians find COVID-19 community testing sites near them. The testing locator website features community testing locations, including sites operated by Verily and OptumServe, which are open to Californians who meet current testing guidelines. Testing is free for all individuals, including those who are uninsured or undocumented. Individual testing results are confidential.
1:20pm
A group of mayors from the Monterey Bay Area have collectively written to California Governor Gavin Newsom requesting that a portion of the CARES Act funding, that the state received, be shared with cities with a population of less than 500,000.
The mayors are asking for the state funding, “to stabilize local government budgets to preserve the essential City services all Californians need.”
The Monterey Bay Area cities anticipate a total loss in sales and TOT (transient occupancy tax) revenues of $40,000,000 in FY 2019-2020, and a loss of $122,000,000 in FY 2020-2021.
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY
3:55pm
Second Harvest Food Bank will host another drive through community food distribution on Friday, May 8, at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk in Santa Cruz. The distribution will be between 9am – 1pm at the long parking lot parallel to the San Lorenzo River.
Each family receiving food must have a representative present, with appropriate identifying materials.
They are asking attendees to please not bring dogs or other pets to the drive through if possible.
Upcoming drives:
May 8, 2020 – Beach Boardwalk, Santa Cruz
May 15, 2020 – Fairgrounds, Watsonville
May 22, 2020 – Beach Boardwalk, Santa Cruz
May 29, 2020 – Fairgrounds, Watsonville
9:25am
The Santa Cruz County Health Officer, Dr. Gail Newel, will soon be issuing an updated shelter-in-place order. The updates will follow California Governor Gavin Newsom’s Stage 2 of his Reopening Roadmap.
Beginning Friday, May 8 local retail businesses may begin providing curbside pick-up services to customers. Examples of such businesses include bookstores, clothing stores, florists, sporting goods stores and other over-the-counter retailers.
In addition, manufacturing and supply chain workplaces supporting these businesses may open. Social Distancing Protocols must be followed in all of these settings.
The county says state guidance on allowable businesses is expected to be issued on Thursday, May 7. They are advising business owners to review state guidance to determine whether their establishments may reopen as well as operational practices, so that they may avoid enforcement actions.
MONTEREY COUNTY
5pm
Monterey County has trained 20 people in COVID-19 case and contact investigations. Normally there are 3 people doing this type of work. The county will also add 10 more contract tracers to its staff by the end of the week.
4:50pm
This Friday, May 8, from 10am the Monterey County Business Council is presenting a webinar in Spanish about COVID-19 related HR and legal issues for small businesses. The webinar is in collaboration with the Cal Coastal Small Business Development Center (SBDC), County of Monterey and City of Salinas. Register here.
2:45pm
CRLA or California Rural Legal Assistance are focusing right now on making sure low-income families know their rights during the coronavirus pandemic. They have been helping families understand how to access healthcare, know their rights when it comes to rental evictions, and wage replacement programs. A list of their offices can be found here.
1:45pm
The Coalition of Homeless Services Providers and Monterey County Social Services have partnered together to provide motel/hotel rooms to individuals at high-risk of contracting COVID-19. The program called “Project Room Key” has already housed about 39 people and is expected to have placed more than 100 individuals by the end of the week. Those housed have access to food, laundry, medical and mental health services.
Elliott Robinson, the coalition’s spokesperson, says the program is funded with $612,000 from State COVID-19 Emergency Homeless Funds and administrative resources available through the State Homeless Emergency Assistance Program.
1:35pm
Monterey City Manager Hans Usler will be hosting another “Monterey Mornings with the Manager” tomorrow (May 7) at 9am live on YouTube. Uslar will take questions from the community.
11am
Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital is celebrating healthcare workers with the hanging of a 15X20 foot banner on it’s parking structure building that reads, “Our Heroes. Thank You Healthcare Workers. These times are extraordinary. Fortunately, so are you.”
The hospital is unable to celebrate National Nurses Week (May 6-12) and National Hospital Week (May 10-16) this year as it traditionally does, because of the coronavirus pandemic. Normally they would celebrate with cake being delivered to the units, massages, and a campus-wide BBQ.
9:20am
Monterey County is reporting, as of May 4, 241 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among residents. This is an increase of 4 new cases compared to the previous day. Fatalities remain at 6. 66% of cases have been reported in the Salinas area.
SANTA CLARA COUNTY
9:10am
Santa Clara County is reporting, as of May 5, 2,255 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the county and 121 deaths. 132 people are currently hospitalized with 47 people in ICU. 34,166 patients have been tested for the virus.