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 3:55 p.m. on May 7 there are 54 confirmed cases in San Benito County since February, two of which are active, 50 recovered and two deaths. For the most updated information, visit the San Benito County COVID-19 Dashboard.
Recent Articles
Local music video says ‘Go Away Corona’—Miyako owner Eddie Hoang and family create and share a song to help lighten the mood during COVID-19.
San Juan Bautista uses color code to check in with residents—Community wellness program asks locals to put cards in their windows—yellow if okay and red if they need non-emergency assistance.
San Benito County hosts no-cost COVID-19 testing—Testing will be available to all residents with a focus on—but not limited to—underserved populations, healthcare employees, essential workers, those over 60 years of age and those with chronic illnesses.
Panetta co-introduces legislation to create Health Force and expand response to COVID-19—If approved, the health force would recruit, train and employ Americans to expand the public health workforce to combat the coronavirus.
State Senator Caballero introduces bill to help renters and property owners impacted by COVID-19—Legislation would authorize the state housing department to administer program to provide financial relief for California tenants.
Health
San Benito County Behavioral Health will host a “Wellness Routines for Uncertain Times” webinar on May 8 from 3-4 p.m.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/95539556240
Meeting ID: 955 3955 6240
Schools
San Benito High School Superintendent Shawn Tennenbaum said May 7 that the school is currently not expected to open earlier than August for the 2020-2021 school year. He said they are “planning for what the 2020-2021 school year will look like, with some physical distancing restrictions likely in place, and the start of the school year likely not looking like a ‘normal’ pre-pandemic time in school.”
“Our goal is to open in person Aug. 13 as scheduled, but there are more questions than answers at this point and we are keenly aware that a blended or hybrid approach (in-person and distance) to learning may be necessary. We’re going to build multiple models and follow the guidance that is coming from the San Benito County Health Department, the California Department of Education and the federal Centers for Disease Control, among others.”
SBHS and other school districts are considering making modifications including:
- Proactively screening students and staff for symptoms
- Avoiding large gatherings and maintaining social distancing keeping in mind
- Hallways
- Lunch/recess
- Sporting events
- Assemblies
- Modified schedules to accommodate reduced in-person class sizes
- Stable cohorts of smaller groups of students
- Integrating distance learning regularly
- Mixing distance and in-person lessons
- Modified number of instructional days and/or instructional minutes per day
- Technology procurement to accommodate continuous learning and a blended format for all students
- Before and after school programs will need modifications depending on demand and physical distancing requirements
Housing
State Senator Anna M. Caballero, Senator Lena Gonzalez and Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris have introduced Senate Bill 1410 to create the COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Program. The bill would authorize the California Department Housing and Community Development to administer a program that provides financial relief for California tenants that cannot pay rent because of financial hardship from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under SB 1410, eligible renters who demonstrate an inability to pay rent due to a COVID-19 related job loss or due to the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Property owners can receive 80% of their existing rental payments from those tenants but must agree to not increase rent, charge or collect late fees, or pursue any remaining rent owed during the months covered by the program.
See above article for more details.
Government
Congressman Jimmy Panetta, Congressman Jason Crow and Congresswoman Lauren Underwood introduced legislation on May 7 to create a Health Force and a Resiliency Force to help respond to and combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The Health Force would recruit, train, and employ Americans to expand our public health workforce to combat the virus and strengthen America’s longer-term public health response. In addition to helping solve our public health worker shortage, the bill would help provide jobs for thousands of recently unemployed Americans and support the country’s recovery efforts. Senator Michael Bennet and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand introduced companion legislation in the Senate.
The Health Force would be responsible for:
- Conducting contact tracing
- Administering COVID-19 tests, including antibody tests
- Supporting the provision of COVID-19 vaccinations (when available)
- Sharing COVID-19 public health messages with community members, including debunking myths and misperceptions
- Providing data entry in support of epidemiological surveillance and to meet broader health information system requirements
- Providing community-based and home-based services, including food and medical supply delivery to elderly and immunocompromised individuals
- Providing palliative and hospice care
- Providing other public health-related services, as needed
See above article for more details.
-California moves into Stage 2 of its stay-at-home order beginning May 8. Stage 2 allows for the opening of modified retail and manufacturing to allow for physical distancing and other safety measures.
Some counties will be allowed to open at a faster pace if they meet California Public Health criteria, including epidemiologic stability, testing ability and the ability to protect essential workers.
More information can be found on the California Governor Facebook page.
Counties still under their own more restrictive shelter-in-place orders will not move into Stage 2 until their orders expire.
Business
-San Benito County will hold a virtual meeting for Hospitality and Food: restaurants, food and beverage vendor and hotels on May 8 from 5-6 p.m.
Webinar ID: 923 5736 7748
-On May 6, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order extending the tax filing deadline for Business Personal Property Tax Statements from May 7 to May 31. Since May 31 is a Sunday, June 1 will be the last day to file without possibly being subject to a 10% penalty.
Businesses required to file are those that received a notice to file from the Assessor’s Office, or any business that owns Personal Property and/or fixtures having a total combined cost of $100,000 or more, as required by state law. Typically, businesses are subject to a 10% penalty if they were unable to file by the May 7 deadline.
For information on Business Property Statement filing, please visit the Assessor’s website www.cosb.us/assessor or email the office at sbcassr@cosb.us
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.
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