Here is a list of the major developments in the coronavirus epidemic facing San Diego County, updated at 9:45 p.m. on Tuesday, May 19.
• There have been 6,026 cases and 222 deaths among San Diego County residents as of Tuesday afternoon.
• Across California there have been 81,795 cases and 3,334 deaths as of Tuesday afternoon.
• Across the United States, there have been 1,525,367 cases and 91,730 deaths as of Tuesday afternoon, according to Johns Hopkins University.
• The San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency reported 80 new coronavirus cases and 11 more deaths from the disease.
• The San Diego City Council voted 8-1 to extend the city’s moratorium on commercial and residential evictions until June 30.
• The San Diego County Board of Supervisors approved a formal request to Gov. Gavin Newsom to accelerate the reopening of some sports activities, personal services such as hair salons and fitness clubs, and outdoor religious services shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The only two hospitals in Imperial County were forced to close their doors to new coronavirus patients after admitting scores believed stricken with the virus from Mexico’s nearby border town of Mexicali.
• The San Diego City Council unanimously approved matching $5 million in federal stimulus funding that will provide childcare for essential workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The Department of Justice on warned California’s governor that his COVID-19 restrictions discriminated against places of worship by preventing them from meeting while businesses and film studios are allowed to carry on working.
• The city of San Diego will use federal and state COVID-19 relief funds to offset major budget cuts proposed last month to manage pandemic-related revenue shortfalls.
• What its authors billed as “a comprehensive economic and humanitarian stimulus package” using funds from the federal coronavirus relief bill was approved by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors.
• A quarter of workers currently employed or recently unemployed say their confidence in their ability to retire comfortably has declined in light of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a study by the Southern California-based Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies.
• San Diego Gas & Electric is asking locked-down graduates to think twice about celebrating with Mylar balloons, which can easily cause outages if they touch power lines.
• With schools closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, concerns that students are more susceptible than ever to sexual exploitation have led local human trafficking watchdog groups to establish online training tools for educators to recognize the telltale signs of exploitation.
• Traffic accidents and DUI arrests have declined as Californians observe stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the number of motorists cited for driving more than 100 mph increased by nearly 50%.
• Harrah’s Resort Southern California in Valley Center is the latest local casino to announce its reopening plans, with the first phase beginning at noon on Friday.
• A rideshare driver who has switched to delivery apps writes that being an independent contractor at a time when a record number of employees are being laid off means he can stay afloat financially.
• Kirk Effinger writes that a small but vocal contingent of people decrying government encroachment on their freedoms are trying to make the case that the Constitution gives them unfettered rights to do and say anything they want, the rest of us be damned.
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