-March 17,2021-
– Tulare Basin precipitation Index is just 40% of average as of March 14.Northern California is at 52%.We are still ahead of the driest years 76-77.
– Visalia Mall manager Rick Feder says they are experiencing about 70% of typical shopper traffic after being closed for months last year and reopening in September. “We see light at the end of the tunnel” says Feder. Tulare County is among those counties who will loosen restrictions on opening for stores, gyms theaters and restaurants this Wednesday -March 15. Yes, that’s St Patrick’s Day!
-TSA officers screened the highest number of airline passengers on a single day since March 15, 2020. But passenger numbers are 20% lower than last year about 38% of the numbers this time in 2019
– About 50,000 cases of coronavirus have been recorded in Tulare County since the pandemic began a year ago. Meanwhile, some 100,000 doses of the vaccines have been administered. The County says these shots represent 62,500 adults fully vaccinated and more with some immunity who have one shot in them.Add those that got the virus to those inoculated and you get 100,000 to 150,000 persons in the county who would have antibodies protecting them from any new infection. The County has about 318,000 adults – so one third – up to almost one half have immunity in mid-March.
– Mass vaccination clinics can do 1,500 shots a day and big ones like Dodger stadium can do 12,000 daily. The drive-up Agri Center site in Tulare has administered 2000 doses a day. The pace should increase. President Biden hopes to have enough vaccines to inoculate all U.S. adults by May 1. There are 45 locations in Tulare County offering the vaccine.
The average number of vaccine doses being administered across the country was over two million for the first time last week according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A month ago, the average was 1.3 million.
-Latest numbers form Kaweah Delta shows 29 COVID patients in hospital beds – down from 154 in mid-January
-Tulare County deaths from COVID number near 800 since the start.But in the past few days – according to a trusted data base -there has been one with a 7 day average at 1.4. In California, the nation’s most populous state, the state averaged more than 560 deaths a day at its peak in January. By contrast, for much of November, it reported fewer than 50 deaths a day on average.In March the state is reporting just over 200 deaths a day with the rate declining.The state has reported some 51,000 deaths total.-There are still plenty of people who, even with access to the vaccine, do not want to take it. CDC says Hispanic and Latino people were 3.1 times more likely than non-Hispanic white people to be hospitalized and 2.3 times more likely to die from COVID-19 infection.
-This week Tulare County Public Health has updated its COVID Vaccine Plan and is now offering vaccinations to those eligible with underlying and high-risk health conditions. People 16-64 years of age who have an underlying health condition or disability which increases their risk of severe COVID-19 can now make an appointment to get vaccinated.
– This week! The House of Representatives is set to vote on a new farm labor bill that would provide a path to legal status for many of the nation’s farmworkers. H.R. 1603, brought by Reps. Zoe Lofgren (R-Calif.) and Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), would make it easier for farmers to hire employees through the H-2A foreign guestworker program.