Merced mayor asks Newsom to open local businesses. 12 new coronavirus cases in county
Merced Mayor Mike Murphy on Thursday sent a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom, asking the state leader to reopen businesses in rural cities amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Murphy’s hope is Newsom will amend the state order mandating that non-essential businesses remain shut — a step the governor took as a precaution to prevent the virus from spreading.
Meanwhile, Merced County on Thursday added 12 new cases of coronavirus infections, bringing the total number of cases reported since the beginning of the pandemic to 131. Of those, 80 residents have recovered, 48 remain sick and three have died, according to the county’s Department of Public Health.
Nearby Mariposa County on Thursday rose to 13 cases, an increase from three cases the day prior.
Murphy told the Sun-Star that Newsom thanked him for the letter. But he’s unsure whether the governor will be receptive to his requests. “I think its going to take a lot of elected officials to have the same requests, including from our legislative leaders,” Murphy said.
Murphy’s effort is similar to the Atwater City Council, who earlier this week also wrote to Newsom. Murphy pointed out to the Sun-Star that he wrote the letter to Newsom on his own, and it does not reflect the entire Merced City Council.
“The facts show that many of the current state restrictions on businesses in our rural region can be revised to allow businesses to open and operate safely” Murphy wrote. “The dense urban centers in the Bay Area and Los Angeles are different than Merced.”
In the letter, Murphy outlined that while fear of overrunning the healthcare system was the key justification for shutting nonessential businesses down, that fear hasn’t yet materialized locally.
Businesses labeled nonessential could reopen safely under certain parameters like enforcing social distancing, use of face coverings, and frequent hand washing and sanitation, Murphy added.
“I think we need to remain vigilant and cautious, but we don’t have to kill business by doing that,” he said.
Many Merced County small businesses speaking out
Some Merced County residents have become increasingly vocal about reopening the local economy. Comments noting the harm to small businesses inundated Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting.
Many believe it’s unfair that big box stores deemed essential remain open with heavy foot traffic, while small mom-and-pop shops where patrons could more easily social distance remain closed.
Murphy said he’s heard from business owners who put a significant amount of thought into how to operate safely for both employees and patrons.
For example, Murphy said it’s unfair that Second Time Around, a used book store in downtown Merced, must remain shut while patrons instead walk the book aisles of Walmart.
Reopening the local economy would aid not only business owners, but the entire city, Murphy said.
“Our sales tax receipts are down,” he said, noting that Merced is largely dependent on those funds.
The transient occupancy tax, which comes from temporary hotel or motel-type lodging, has also been flattened, he said.
Smaller cities need more funding, Murphy says
Additionally, Murphy asked the governor to consider allowing smaller cities to receive direct federal funding from the CARES Act.
“Small cities have the same fiscal challenges that larger cities face, sometimes they are more severe,” the letter read.
Congress allocated money for cities with at least 500,000 residents, but U.S. Census Bureau estimates put Merced’s population at about 83,316 in 2018.
California received $8.4 billion to support COVID-19 expenses. Smaller cities like Merced should be privy to a portion of the funds, Murphy said.
More on local coronavirus cases
The City of Merced claimed the biggest jump in coronavirus cases Thursday, up nine from the previous day for a total of 32 infected residents.
Merced is now just a few cases behind Los Banos, which has remained in the lead at 37 cases for several days now.
Delhi gained two cases — now at 14 total. Winton rose by one case to seven total.
County Public Health only releases numbers for communities with five or more confirmed COVID-19 infections.
As of Thursday, 2,122 coronavirus tests have been performed in Merced County through both the commercial and public health lab systems. Of those, 1,705 are negative, 131 are positive and 286 pending.
Also Thursday, coronavirus-related restrictions in the county softened a bit as requirements set to go into effect locally, including wearing face coverings inside businesses, were placed on hold.
Other counties in the region
Mariposa County announced 10 new cases Thursday evening - six of them children between the ages of 1 and 11 - for a total of 13 cases. The other four new cases Thursday are adults between the ages of 25 and 38. Mariposa County health officials said the new cases are connected to the original cases. The spread is described as person-to-person at this time.
Stanislaus County recorded its largest daily jump in confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus on Thursday. The county also reported two additional deaths, bringing the region’s total to 13.
A total of 374 people in the county have tested positive for the virus, officials said Thursday afternoon. That was an increase of 35 cases, up from 339 on Wednesday. Of those positive cases, 238 people have recovered. Negative tests total 5,244.
Four more people have died in Tulare County from complications of the coronavirus, bringing the total number of deaths in the county to 40. Tulare County now accounts for more than three-fourths of the 53 deaths in the central San Joaquin Valley.
The Tulare County Health and Human Services Agency added 14 positive coronavirus cases, in addition to the deaths, pushing the total number in Tulare County to 640 people.
Fresno County also added 26 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, bringing its total COVID-19 cases up to 564.
Fresno County COVID-19 deaths remain at seven. Of Fresno County’s cases, 351 are active and 206 have recovered, health officials said.
Kings County reported 96 positive cases Thursday. One person has died and 15 have recovered.
Madera County remained at 46 positive cases after reporting zero new cases Thursday. Two people have died and 29 have recovered.
California has 49,982 confirmed cases and 2,023 deaths, according to the state Department of Public Health.
This story was originally published April 30, 2020 at 7:21 PM.
