health

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.  

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

As Bay Area food banks scramble to meet increased demand for their services, the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank has opened seven new pop-up pantries to fill a gap left by dozens of sites that have shut down due to coronavirus and volunteer shortages. The food bank has seen about 100 of its regular 275 food […]

As coronavirus cases rise throughout California, health officials announced Friday that Covered California, the state’s health insurance marketplace, would extend its special enrollment period until the end of June in an effort to provide health insurance to more people. “The human and economic impacts of the coronavirus will be far-reaching, long-lasting and impacting many Californians’ […]

As Fresno County scrambles to get its homeless population indoors during the coronavirus crisis, communication roadblocks are causing confusion.

The coronavirus pandemic has forced the closure of many day laborer centers throughout the country, including most in California, putting thousands of people out of work. “We did it to protect workers, the community and employers. It is not good that 50 labor workers are together in a center waiting for a job,” said Pablo […]