I Heart Fairgrounds Raises $51k

“COVID Update” from page 6

Some may worry about contracting COVID-19 while working. However, the San Francisco school system found zero cases connected to the return of in-person instruction three weeks ago, with 20 cases due to community transmission. Locally, household transmission has been the biggest factor, according to the Santa Cruz County health database.

Santa Cruz County, one of 38 in the state’s Orange Tier, reports 205 deaths and 134,000 negative test results but an April uptick in cases means a move into the Yellow Tier, the least restrictive, allowing more capacity at outdoor events such as school graduations, is postponed another week.

On April 27, the county’s adjusted case rate went up from 1.4 cases per day per 100,000 people to 2.1 cases per day, and it has to be below 2 for two weeks to qualify.

On May 11, it was 1.5 cases per day. Until the numbers are reviewed next Tuesday, gyms, saunas, dance and yoga studios, wineries, breweries and bowling alleys must stay at 25 percent capacity and not go up to 50 percent – a tough restriction for profitability.

Test positivity was .5 percent, below the 2 percent the Yellow Tier requires.

Restaurants that survived a roller coaster of regulations – must do takeout, outdoor service allowed, some indoor service allowed, then only outdoor, now indoor allowed – are supposed to get their first relief check from the $28.6 billion Restaurant Revitalization Fund. More than 16,000 applicants approved by the federal Small Business Administration are to share $2 billion in aid.

Applications filed at the SBA online portal at https://restaurants.sba.gov will be processed until the money runs out.

The Rescue Plan allocated $16 billion for Shuttered Venues Operator Grants, a first for the SBA, but it’s not clear how many Santa Cruz County venues — many closed for a year — might get funding.

SBA chief Isabella Casillas Guzman has been under fire for slow rollout of Economic Injury Disaster Loans, which were funded early in 2020.

The Aptos Chamber of Commerce won’t organize the 4th of July parade or the party at Aptos Village Park this year, but the 4th of July parade in Scotts Valley will return, organized by City Council member Donna Lind.

Look for Cabrillo Stage in Aptos to present musicals outdoors in June and July.

COVID-19 has disproportionately affected the Latinx community locally, and the Health Improvement Partnership of Santa Cruz County will address that subject at its annual forum, which will be virtual 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Thursday, May 27.

Attendees will explore ways to address the root causes of health, economic and social inequities.

In Capitola, temporary outdoor dining is allowed through Sept. 7.

Vaccine For Kids

On May 10, federal regulators granted emergency use authorization for the two-shot Pfizer vaccine, for kids ages 12 to 15, following clinical trials for that age group.

The Santa Cruz County Office of Education is teaming up with Salud Para La Gente, Safeway, Dignity Health, Dominican Hospital and county Public Health to provide vaccine clinics for students age 16-18. Next in the works: Vaccines clinics for students 12 to 15.

Dr. Michelle Rodriguez, superintendent of the Pajaro Valley Unified School District, and her fellow superintendents sent an April 21 letter to parents, noting “a report published by the CDC found in-person instruction does not pose a major risk of COVID-19 to children as long as they continue to wear face coverings and maintain adequate physical distance between themselves and others.”

The vaccine is free and voluntary. Parental consent is required, with families being notified via email.

The superintendents’ letter states: “We are committed to ensure that all families and students have access to vaccination regardless of income level, ZIP code, immigration status and /or whether have health insurance or not.”

Santa Cruz County health officials have prioritized equity, allocating 60 percent of its doses for the greater Watsonville area and its Latinx community, which has seen the most cases.

The Santa Cruz County Office of Education has a campaign in Spanish to encourage educators, childcare workers and farmworkers get the vaccine. For information, 831-466-5906.

On April 27, the federal Centers for Disease Control issued new guidelines on wearing masks to prevent COVID spread, saying fully vaccinated people can skip the mask outdoors — unless they’re in a big crowd.

President Joe Biden told the Associated Press, “If you’re vaccinated, you can do more things.”

Cabrillo Graduation

Cabrillo College will host a virtual commencement ceremony at 4 p.m. Friday, May 21 to honor graduates. The community at large is invited, and graduates are welcome to celebrate on social media.

Gov. Newsom, who is being subjected to recall, aims to fully reopen the state June 15, allowing conventions to resume with attendance capped 5,000.

To look for a vaccine is the state system at www.MyTurn.ca.gov.

Most health providers are on this platform, making it easier to track California’s vaccination progress.

But federally qualified health care centers such as Salud Para La Gente and Santa Cruz Community Health are not using MyTurn, so to get an appointment there, go to santacruzhealth.org, click on vaccines and follow the directions.

The Toll

COVID-19 has claimed the lives of 61,000 Californians.

Deaths in Santa Cruz County have leveled off at 205, with 50 percent of deaths at nursing homes and assisted living facilities, a percentage that was higher early in the pandemic.

Locally, 78 percent of those who died were age 70 or older and 78 percent had other health conditions — those percentages have remained stable.

A year after the pandemic began, with 33 million vaccine doses administered and case rates plummeting, 11 counties are in the Red Tier and 38 in the Orange Tier, 9 in the Yellow Tier.

Santa Cruz County reported zero people hospitalized with COVID on Wednesday. •••

In December, four generous groups each put up $5,000 and challenged the community to match it in hopes of raising a total of $40,000 to fund the work of the Fairgrounds Foundation.

Happily those hopes were far exceeded as the 2021 Challenge Grant brought in $51,125.

Here are the four groups who each donated $5,000: • Keller Williams Realty (Chuck and Ramona Allen of KW Ag & Commercial Real Estate and

Renee Mello of Renee Mello &

Associates) • Rosario and Patricia Rodriguez, El

Mercado Popular • Sunrise Rotary Club, Santa Cruz • Don and Diane Cooley, Porter

Ranch When the Cooleys learned the community had met their challenge, they made another donation in memory of their son, Steve Cooley, who recently died.

Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds Foundation was founded in 2002 to help maintain and develop new facilities on the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds. Through the generosity of the community the organization has invested more than $2 million in fairgrounds upgrades.

The foundation funds an annual Heritage Hog Scholarship and has developed a Youth Leadership Program for high school students. More information is available at fairgrounds-foundation.org. n

County COVID Deaths 205

60 to 69: 27 • 50 to 59: 5 • 40 to 49: 7 30 to 39: 5

Race/Ethnicity White: 114 • Latinx: 74 • Asian: 15 Black: 1 • Amer. Indian/Alaskan Native: 1

Underlying Conditions Yes: 159 • No: 46

Gender Male: 101 • Female: 104 Skilled Nursing/Residential Care Santa Cruz Post Acute: 20 Watsonville Post Acute: 18 Pacific Coast Manor: 14 Hearts & Hands Post Acute: 8 Sunshine Villa: 7 • Aegis: 4 Maple House 1: 4 • Valley Convalescent: 4 Watsonville Nursing Center: 4 Montecito Manor: 3 • De Un Amor: 2 Dominican Oaks: 2 • Driftwood: 2 Hanover House: 2 • Maple House II: 2 Rachelle’s Home 1: 2 • La Posada: 1 Paradise Villa: 1 • Rachelle’s Home II: 1 Valley Haven: 1 • Westwind: 1 Total: 103 Not at a facility: 102

COVID Cases by Town

Aptos: 815 • Ben Lomond: 126

Boulder Creek: 154 • Capitola: 460 Felton: 156 • Freedom: 1,008

Santa Cruz: 3,965 • Scotts Valley: 442 Soquel: 359 • Watsonville: 8,222 Unincorporated: 256 Under investigation: 286 Total: 16,249

Source: Santa Cruz County Public Health •••

Editor’s Note: Would you like to share your family’s COVID-19 story? Email Jondi Gumz at info@cyber-times.com or call 831688-7549 x17.

See what can open in the Orange Tier at https://covid19.ca.gov/safer-economy.