As Stanislaus County leaders weigh summer surge, Withrow pushes for schools to open
Stanislaus County supervisors heard a presentation Tuesday on a coronavirus outbreak that may or may not be receding a bit.
It’s hard for health experts to tell given recent lapses in reporting new cases and the severe slowdown in turnaround time for test results.
Board Chairwoman Kristin Olsen asked Dr. Julie Vaishampayan, county health officer, if it appears the COVID-19 epidemic is starting to slow down after a large surge in June and July.
It would be unlikely that it’s increasing, Vaishampayan said. “It’s at least flattening and may be decreasing a bit,” she said, adding. “I wish our hospitalizations would come down to reflect that.”
County staff provided other details showing medical facilities are struggling to keep up with a flood of patients. The county received state assistance last week in obtaining 10 ventilators needed for patients hospitalized with the COVID-19 illness.
A long-term care hospital was converting space for a “step down” unit to free up beds in medical centers. Memorial Medical Center and Doctors Medical Center, both in Modesto, and Oak Valley Hospital in Oakdale have received staffing from the state’s Medical and Health Operational Area Coordinator program to handle the large influx of coronavirus-stricken patients.
Tuesday’s presentation came a week after the county held meetings with representatives of several state agencies on helping the county deal with the pandemic.
The county’s five hospitals are caring for 278 patients confirmed or suspected to have the COVID-19 respiratory disease.
There’s a current lack of case data as county public health works through a backlog of cases created by technical problems with the state’s communicable disease electronic reporting system. The county is expected to eliminate the backlog later this week.
The state’s reporting system, which was restored Monday, reported 591 new cases for Stanislaus County on Tuesday.
County staff said coronavirus testing by state-hired vendors has slowed to a turnaround time of 15 to 20 days.
The county reported six more deaths to coronavirus Monday, bringing the total to 169. With 301 new cases, the county surpassed the 10,000 mark in confirmed infections. In all, 10,264 county residents have tested positive for COVID-19 since March.
Withrow suggests reopening schools
Supervisor Terry Withrow made an appeal for reopening schools for classroom instruction in the middle of the summer surge. He said only 45 children have died of coronavirus in the entire country, while 600 children die in a normal flu season.
He said children from poor families rely on free meals at schools and won’t make up for the loss of education time. Schools in the county are going back in session with distance learning this month.
Withrow suggested the county send a message that it won’t take enforcement action if local school boards decide to resume classroom instruction in defiance of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s order for distance learning.
Supervisor Vito Chiesa disagreed, saying the county should know in two weeks how things are going with the outbreak.
John Mataka, a community advocate, expressed concern that schoolchildren could pick up the virus in classrooms and return home to infect parents or grandparents. A child could lose a parent to coronavirus.
Nothing was said at Tuesday’s board meeting to suggest any school districts would defy Newsom’s order. Districts would presumably hear from the state if they reopened campuses to students.
Scott Siegel, superintendent of Ceres Unified School District, said he agrees with the state’s position. “I don’t think the numbers (support reopening) as a reality right now,” he said. “Our efforts for the time being would be best aimed in other directions until it is more realistic that we reopen.”
Siegel added: “I have a governor’s order telling us we cannot reopen. I don’t disagree with that.”
According to a California Office of Emergency Services spokesman, a local jurisdiction passing a resolution inconsistent with the state’s health orders could have Coronavirus Relief Fund financial support withheld by the state.
This story was originally published August 11, 2020 at 2:49 PM.
