Health

California Divide

Like a Petri dish for the virus: Tens of thousands of California inmates are at risk

Jose Amendariz was on one of his frequent trips to the nurse’s station in Orange County’s largest jail when deputies hauled in a man in a mask.  Of all the inmates inside the jail, the 29-year-old Armendariz needs the most care: insulin shots for Type I diabetes, pills for hypertension, asthma inhaler puffs for his […]

By Nigel Duara • April 13, 2020

California Divide

Farmers are forced to let crops rot and throw away milk while food bank demand soars

Last week, Isabel Solorio turned away five families from the Lanare food bank serving farmworkers in rural Fresno County. There just wasn’t enough food to feed the 215 families who showed up. It was twice the number of families that needed food a week earlier, she said. But that same week, on a farm just […]

By Manuela Tobias and Robert Rodriguez • April 11, 2020

California Divide

‘The perfect storm of vulnerability’: Protection in the fields doesn’t follow farmworkers home

When Jesus Francisco Meza Uriarte and Dian Alejandro Bienazul Atondo step into the van that will take them to a spinach field in Salinas each morning, it stinks of bleach. The van’s been sanitized between rides to kill any lingering bits of the COVID-19 virus. They ride to work, sitting at least six feet apart, […]

By Kate Cimini • April 11, 2020

California Divide

First homeless patient tests positive for coronavirus in Fresno

Several cases of coronavirus have cropped up among California's homeless population. Now, Fresno County is reporting its first case. That homeless individual who tested positive is being quarantined in a hotel.

By Manuela Tobias • April 2, 2020

California Divide

For the greater good: Coronavirus border closure keeps immigrants from seeing families

The U.S.-Mexico border closed to nonessential travel last month to help stem the spread of the novel coronavirus. But the closure is cutting off many Mexicans and Mexican-Americans from relatives — and home.  

By Kate Cimini • April 1, 2020

California Divide

Fresno’s doctor shortage just cost the county 100 coronavirus emergency hospital beds

Fresno County has to give away 100 emergency field hospital beds intended to treat coronavirus patients because the Valley’s long-standing shortage of doctors means there aren’t enough medical professionals to monitor the patients. About 250 beds will be delivered to the county after state officials on Wednesday green light its proposed field hospital location for […]

By Manuela Tobias • March 31, 2020

Coronavirus

California starts recruiting retired and student doctors, nurses to handle surge in severely sick people

As the number of people hospitalized in California with the coronavirus doubled in just four days, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday sent out an urgent call seeking help from the state’s 37,000 retired and part-time health care professionals.  Newsom issued an executive order that will temporarily allow retired doctors and nurses to return to work, […]

By Julie Cart, Elizabeth Aguilera and Ana B. Ibarra • March 30, 2020

California Divide

‘Am I going to die?’ Alone and scared, confined seniors struggle with anxiety

For the past few weeks, as coronavirus radically altered daily life, 79-year-old Diana Fernandes has been struggling quietly inside her San Francisco home, weathering a challenge from within. Fernandes lives alone — her husband died in 2017 — and has been left to manage a painful foot injury and the threat of the virus on […]

By Erica Hellerstein • March 29, 2020

California Divide

No face masks so California’s farmworkers are left unprotected

Salinas farmworkers Juan Manuel Virgen and Daniel Lopez Aviles circled the field in a white pickup, a coworker behind the wheel. It was about 10 a.m., and the sun was starting to warm the air. All of them had tied bandannas neatly around their necks, tucking them into the front of their shirts.  “No hay […]

By Kate Cimini • March 26, 2020

California Divide

Fresno area is sicker and has a doctor shortage. So the coronavirus poses a huge threat, experts warn

The central San Joaquin Valley for years has struggled to attract medical doctors, with physician-to-resident ratios well below what medical experts say is needed for adequate healthcare. That was before the coronavirus pandemic. Now the rapid spread of COVID-19 may well expose the Fresno area to even greater risk if the relatively few doctors in […]

By Manuela Tobias • March 25, 2020