Novel Coronavirus. Photo courtesy of Centers for Disease Control.
Novel Coronavirus. Photo courtesy of Centers for Disease Control.

With everything happening with the coronavirus pandemic, we at BenitoLink want to provide a roundup of recent articles, as well as closures and cancellations happening in San Benito County.

As of 4:30 p.m. on April 21 there are 45 confirmed cases in San Benito County since February, three of which are active, 40 recovered and two deaths. For the most updated information, visit the San Benito County COVID-19 Dashboard.

Information courtesy of San Benito County Public Health Services.
Information courtesy of San Benito County Public Health Services.

The San Benito County Health and Human Services Agency has provided a list of agencies, in both English and Spanish, who can assist residents in need at this time. See attached PDFs. This information has been mailed to county residents.

Recent Articles

County-mandated facial covering order could come as soon as April 24—Coverings would be required in places where it isn’t possible to maintain social distancing.

Code enforcement hits SJB and Hollister following shelter-in-place violations—City managers respond to groups congregating in closed parks and hopping fences.

Housing

The Monterey Bay Economic Partnership housing team is tracking developments pertaining to local, state and federal moratoriums on evictions and foreclosures which is their first recommendation featured in  COVID-19 Housing Response Position Paper:

Recommendation No. 1: Moratoriums on Evictions and Foreclosures

Local:

State:

National:

  • Summary and Analysis of Federal CARES Act Eviction Moratorium from the National Housing Law Project provides a comprehensive overview of the protections for renters and homeowners that are included in this federal policy, which was passed on March 28. It also outlines which types of housing are covered.

Government

State and federal elected officials’ COVID-19 web pages.

-The Treasury Department has set a deadline of April 22 for people receiving Social Security retirement, survivor or disability benefits (SSDI), Railroad Retirement benefits, or Veterans Administration benefits who did not file taxes to upload information about dependent children to receive $500 per qualifying child related to the $1,200 economic impact payments.

According to the press release, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients will have until a later date to provide their information in the IRS Non-Filers tool.

“Social security recipients and other federal benefit recipients will get their $1,200 automatically, but if they have dependents and did not file in 2018 or 2019, they need to use the IRS Non-Filers tool as soon as possible to input information to get their $500 per child,” said Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin. “If the IRS does not receive this essential information by Wednesday, their payment will be $1,200 and the $500 per child will be paid to them with a return filing for tax year 2020.”

See full press release here

Business

-SBC Board of Supervisors will host a virtual town hall at 3 p.m. on April 24 to inform the business community of available resources and COVID-19 updates.

Zoom meeting link: https://zoom.us/j/91453577054

San Benito County Supervisors Jim Gillio and Peter Hernandez will host the town hall with State Senator Anna Caballero and State Assemblyman Robert Rivas. According to a recent release, they will address business concerns derived from the San Benito County Chamber’s COVID-19 survey and the county’s economic impact surveys.

The meeting will include updates around the county’s Health Order, discussion of essential business, social distancing protocols, mask-covering overview, resources available to local organizations, price gouging, enforcement of shelter in place, construction industry guidelines, plans for economic recovery, webinars, training, tools and workforce retention and reemployment.

In addition to the supervisors, county panelists will include County Administrative Officer Ray Espinosa, Health Department Director Tracey Belton, Tax Collector/Treasurer Melinda Casillas, Resource Management Agency Harry Mavrogenes, Assessor Tom Slavich, Clerk/Auditor/Recorder Joe Paul Gonzalez, District Attorney Candice Hooper, Sheriff Darren Thompson, and Emergency Services Manager Kris Mangano.

 Other

The Manger’s drive-thru food service began April 18. The 120 meals they had received from Martha’s Kitchen were given out in the first 15 minutes. They were able to get 200 sandwiches from My Father’s House which were given out in the next 30 minutes. Several volunteers were on hand to help, including 20 volunteers from Youth Alliance, the Salvation Army, New Harvest Church, and additional volunteers.

The nonprofit is now preparing to serve 300+ meals on April 24.

Tips for avoiding COVID-19                      

  • Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol if soap and water are not available.
  • Avoid touching your face with unwashed hands.
  • Keep a minimum of a six feet physical distance from others.
  • Avoid people who are sick.
  • Stay at home. Only leave to take care of essential errands.
  • Cover your cough and sneeze.
  • Cover your face (mouth and nose) with protective covering when in public
  • Disinfect frequently touched objects.
  • If you think you might be infected call your health care professional and follow their directions.

 

BenitoLink is a nonprofit news website that reports on San Benito County. Our team is working around the clock during this time when accurate information is essential. It is expensive to produce local news and community support is what keeps the news flowing. Please consider supporting BenitoLink, San Benito County’s news.