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 May 15 there are 60 confirmed cases in San Benito County since February, five of which are active, 53 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.
Information courtesy of San Benito County Public Health Services.
Information courtesy of San Benito County Public Health Services.

Recent Articles

San Juan Bautista considers using Third Street for outdoor dining—Main thoroughfare could become a temporary one-way street, allowing restaurants and businesses to use curbside space.

Photography exhibit honors essential workers—Hollister photographer Marisa Duran teams up with San Benito Arts Council to display her work in a unique way.

San Juan Bautista food drive announced—Community partners will distribute boxes with up to four days of food to interested local residents.

Health

On May 14, the Centers for Disease Control issued a health advisory to physicians about the emerging inflammatory disease found in children following COVID- 19 infection. The disease, which resembles Kawasaki disease and toxic shock syndrome, is now known as multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, or MIS-C. The syndrome is rare and has a low mortality rate. There have been six confirmed cases in California. Link

Schools

San Benito High School will be conducting drive-thru drop-off and pick-ups for all Spring sport student-athletes Monday, May 18 through Wednesday, May 20 in Baler Alley.

This is an opportunity for students to pick up patches, certificates, team pictures and personal belongings that were left in assigned lockers. All items have been bagged and labeled for distribution, according to a recent release.

Additionally, during these assigned times, student-athletes will turn in all SBHS-issued uniforms, equipment and fundraising monies.

The schedule is as follows (please note that each sport has an assigned day and only items for those sports will be distributed or collected during those times):

Baler Alley (2-4 p.m./enter on the West Street side)

Monday, May 18

  • Boys and Girls Swimming
  • Softball
  • Boys Golf

Tuesday, May 19

  • Lacrosse
  • Baseball
  • Boys Volleyball

Wednesday, May 20

  • Boys and Girls Track & Field

Openings

-San Benito County is asking the business and restaurant sectors that were able to open and/or expand their business to please use the provided forms to self-certify compliance with the industry standards. According to a recent release, the county will not require an inspection prior to reopening restaurants and/or businesses.

Industry specific guidance for newly approved business sectors can be found at https://covid19.ca.gov/industry-guidance/

Limited Services: Limited to full-service car washes, pet grooming, tanning facilities and landscape gardening. —State Checklist

Office-based Businesses: telework remains strongly encouraged —State Checklist

Outdoor museums: open gallery spaces and other public spaces —State Checklist

Manufacturing —State Checklist

Logistics / Warehousing Facilities —State Checklist

Childcare: for those outside of the essential workforce —State Guidance

Dine-in Restaurants: other amenities, like bars and gaming areas are not permitted in Stage Two. —State Checklist

In-store Retail: Shopping Malls, Destination Shopping Centers, Strip and Outlet Malls, and Swap Meets —State Checklist

Please follow the industry specific guidance, post the completed industry specific checklists along with the SBC Self-Certification Window Placard in your place of business. Link to placard is here

Government

-The county has made changes to its focus group meeting schedule, including adding a Spanish overview meeting:

-Due to the pandemic, the end date for data collection for the 2020 Census has been extended to October 31.

All census door to door field operations have been suspended until June 1.

The Non-Response Follow-Up Period, or door-knocking phase, was delayed to Aug. 11 to Oct. 31. Self-responses through the web, phone or mail will continue to be accepted through the end of the census on Oct. 31

The census homeless count timeframe is under review and the new dates have not been released.

The federal government will ask Congress to postpone the statutory dates of delivery of the counts to the President (currently set for Dec. 31) and of delivery of redistricting data to states (currently set for March 30, 2021) by four months, to allow for time to collect data.

For more information about the delayed 2020 Census dates, see here

Job Openings         

The application deadline for a position in the Hollister office of the USDA Farm Service Agency has been extended to May 22.

Full posting below:

The USDA Farm Service Agency has a full-time temporary position open in our Hollister office located at 2337 Technology Parkway, Suite A.

The position consists of processing federal program applications plus general office work. This requires computer literacy and competency in math along with excellent communication and organizational skills. Agriculture experience and/or education is a plus.

The USDA Farm Service Agency serves the farmers and ranchers in both San Benito and Santa Clara counties, providing various Farm Program monetary assistance. The successful candidate will acquire valuable skills working in an agricultural office environment and all training is provided.

Send your resume and un-official transcript to chris.keeler@usda.gov. Employment application: https://www.fsa.usda.gov/Internet/FSA_File/fsa0675.pdf.

You must be a U.S. Citizen and the last day to submit your resume is Friday, May 22.

If you have questions contact Chris Keeler, District Director, at 209-205-0043.

Other

A new community food drive is launching in San Juan Bautista as part of a collaborative effort among several local organizations and residents.

Starting Friday, May 22, the drive-thru food drive will take place from 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the soccer field parking lot near San Juan School off The Alameda. The program will continue each Friday at the same time during the COVID-19 pandemic as supplies last.

Community partners will distribute boxes with up to four days of food to interested local residents.

Organizers are requesting residents make a reservation by emailing food@first5sb.org or texting (831) 427-7957 with the following:

• First and last name
• Family size
• Children’s ages (if any)
• Car information (make/model/color/license plate number)

As food is distributed, volunteers will implement social distancing guidelines. Organizers ask recipients to wear a mask at all times during the pick-up.

See article above for more information.

Resources

-The State has several hotlines for residents to call for suicide prevention, abuse, and mental health.Link to resources

-The Division of Occupational Safety and Health, better known as Cal/OSHA, helps protect workers from health and safety hazards in almost every workplace in California.

Visit Cal/OSHA for information about workplace safety and health.

File a confidential workplace safety complaint.

File a whistleblower complaint if you suffer retaliation for reporting a workplace safety hazard

Obtain free consultation services

Contact Cal/OSHA at (844) 522-6734.

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

CDC/Coronavirus

San Benito County Health and Human Services Agency/Coronavirus

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.