1-P ID 20-00904 ***BILL NO. B-24 - (Intro. 6/25/2020) (For adoption) - Amending Section 2-514 of the Fresno Municipal Code in response to the COVID-19 pandemic : (Requires 5 affirmative votes if treated as an Emergency Ordinance) (Subject to Mayor's veto)
I am a retired physician. I live in District 2. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic I am asking that the City Council approve the amendment to Section 2-514, Section 1l &1m of the Fresno Municipal Code. The amendment require(s) people in the City of Fresno to wear cloth face coverings to enter buildings and provided a hotline number to report violations. It also requires employers to notify all employees of possible exposure to COVID-19 within 24 hours of confirmation of a positive case among an employee or customer.
All health measures of the COVID-19 have worsened. Fresno County went from adding about 200 cases a day on June 25, 2020 to consistently adding more than 300 new cases a day starting July 6, 2020. Fresno County confirmed COVID-19 hospitalizations rose markedly. Our hospitals and ICU’s are almost full. New cases of COVID-19 more than doubled from about 4000 cases on June 25, 2020, to more than 8000 cases as of July 11, 2020. Fresno County’s positive test rate for COVID-19 was 8% on June 25. On July 11, 2020, it was 10.1% indicating that the rise in COVID-19 cases is not due to more testing, but rather due to the rising prevalence of disease. If we continue this way our hospitals and ICU’s will not be able to safely and satisfactorily handle the deluge of new patients. Scientific studies show face coverings help slow the spread of COVID-19.
I am a retired physician. I live in District 2. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic I am asking that the City Council approve the amendment to Section 2-514, Section 1l &1m of the Fresno Municipal Code. The amendment require(s) people in the City of Fresno to wear cloth face coverings to enter buildings and provided a hotline number to report violations. It also requires employers to notify all employees of possible exposure to COVID-19 within 24 hours of confirmation of a positive case among an employee or customer.
All health measures of the COVID-19 have worsened. Fresno County went from adding about 200 cases a day on June 25, 2020 to consistently adding more than 300 new cases a day starting July 6, 2020. Fresno County confirmed COVID-19 hospitalizations rose markedly. Our hospitals and ICU’s are almost full. New cases of COVID-19 more than doubled from about 4000 cases on June 25, 2020, to more than 8000 cases as of July 11, 2020. Fresno County’s positive test rate for COVID-19 was 8% on June 25. On July 11, 2020, it was 10.1% indicating that the rise in COVID-19 cases is not due to more testing, but rather due to the rising prevalence of disease. If we continue this way our hospitals and ICU’s will not be able to safely and satisfactorily handle the deluge of new patients. Scientific studies show face coverings help slow the spread of COVID-19.
Please vote FOR the amendment.
James Mendez, MD