By Miriam Raftery

May 1, 2020 (Santee) – The city of Santee today announced the reopening of Mast Park and Woodglen Vista Park, with some limitations to prevent spread of COVID-19. (see below)  All other parks remain closed, however all trails and walking paths remain open.

The city asks everyone to follow the regulations below “so we can keep these parks open, and hopefully open more parks in the near future.”

By Miriam Raftery

April 29, 2020 (Sacramento) – In a briefing yesterday, Governor Gavin Newsom suggested California schools could reopen in July or August, provided keys steps are met. 

“We recognize there’s been a learning loss because of this disruption,” Newsom said of school closures since mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Those closures have impacted 6.1 million students statewide.  “We’re concerned about the learning loss even into the summer,” the Governor added.

Newsom outlined four phases to reopen the state, which is currently in phase one. Phase two would allow some low-risk businesses to reopen, ease restrictions on some public spaces, and potentially include plans to reopen some K-12 schools for either summer school programs or an earlier start to the 2020-2021 school year.

By Emmet Pierce

Photo: Creative Commons via Bing

April 27, 2020 (San Diego’s East Count) -- Despite a growing desire to return to life as normal, East County residents and businesses are following the state’s COVID-19 social distancing guidelines, officials say.  But some mayors and local business leaders voice concerns over impacts on the business community from extended closures.

Source:  San Diego Foundation

April 28, 2020 (San Diego) - Today the San Diego Foundation Board of Governors announced it approved $5 million to support short-term, interest-free loans to San Diego County nonprofit organizations impacted by COVID-19.  

By Jake Zawlacki

Blood clots can cause strokes, brain and neurological damage; cc image via Bing

April 28, 2020 (San Diego’s East County) -- There are still a lot of unknowns regarding COVID-19 and its effects. Over the past few weeks, patient developments have led researchers to investigate previously unknown risks of COVID-19, including blood clots, debilitating strokes in young people, and long-term damage in some survivors.

COVID-19 was the second leading cause of death in the U.S.from April 6-12. It killed an astounding 12,392 people during that period – ten times more than the 1,227 deaths from flu and pneumonia. The coronavirus killed more people than cancer nationwide. Over 50,000 Americans have died from COVID-19,  or roughly the same number killed during the Vietnam War. While the death toll of the 2019-2020 flu season will be unknown for a couple more months, the rates of infection and death are clearly more severe in coronavirus.

April 26, 2020 (San Diego) -- East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County and San Diego's inland regions, published in other media.  This week's round-up stories include:  

LOCAL

• Hospitals eye return to elective surgery following governor’s announcement (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Bill Walton bike ride raises $100K for COVID-19 causes (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• SANDAG: San Diego Jobless Rate Jumps More Than Sixfold To 20.6% (KPBS) San Diego police submit case against weekend protester for possible criminal charge (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Valley Farms Market donates thousands of meals to help those in need (KPBS)
• El Cajon looking at bonds to help with rising pension costs (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• San Diego Zoo and Safari Park asking for donations to care for animals (CBS 8)
• Stakeholders raise alarm about Donavan State Prison (Voice of San Diego)
• Coronavirus chokes the drug trade — from Wuhan, through Mexico and onto U.S. streets  (San Diego Union-Tribune)

STATE

• Thousands visit beaches as Southern California experiences heat wave amid coronavirus outbreak (The Hill)
• Too soon to start reopening California economy, Gavin Newsom says, but surgeries can resume (Sacramento Bee)
• Coronavirus crisis hastens the collapse of local newspapers. Here’s why it matters (Los Angeles Times)
• COVID-19 aid to California freelancers stalled (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• California cannabis, deemed essential during coronavirus crisis, is ‘on the verge of collapsing’ (McClatchy News Service)
• Newsom's secretive $1-billion mask deal with Chinese automaker sparks bipartisan concerns (Yahoo)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

Update: A body has been found in the area where Roberto Camou went missing

East County Wildfire & Emergency Alerts

April 26, 2020 (Otay) – An intensive search is underway for Bobby Camou, who went on a solo ride on his dirt bike round 10 a.m. yesterday but did not return home.  His daughter, Katie Camou  posted on Facebook this morning, “We are fairly certain he went riding in the Otay Mountains near home. He had planned on being home around 4:30 p.m. and we last heard from him at 12:20 p.m. when he sent us a snap shot of himself taking a break, so not hearing from him is making us very scared.”

According to her post, his phone was pinged last night around 10:30 p.m. San Diego Sheriff and Border Patrol have been conducting searches during today’s high heat with dogs, all-terrain vehicles, drones and helicopters.

April 25, 2020 (San Diego’s East County) - East County Magazine's World Watch helps you be an informed citizen on important issues globally and nationally. As part of our commitment to reflect all voices and views, we include links to a variety of news sources representing a broad spectrum of political, religious, and social views. Top world and U.S. headlines include:

U.S.

• House passes $484B coronavirus relief package  (The Hill)
• 8 in 10 American support COVID-19 shutdown, Kaiser Health poll finds (NPR)
• Tribal gaming operations eligible for payroll help (Indian Country Today)
• Trump to suspend U.S. immigration for 60 days, citing pandemic, jobs shortage (Washington Post)
• Trump to halt most green cards, with notable exceptions (Politico)
• These US citizens won't get coronavirus stimulus checks — because their spouses are immigrants (MSN)
• Governors team up to discuss reopening their states. Trump asserts “total” authority to overrule them. (New York Times)
• ‘They’re Death Pits’: Virus Claims at Least 7,000 Lives in U.S. Nursing Homes (New York Times)
• Trump calls to 'liberate' states where protesters have demanded easing coronavirus lockdowns (USA Today)
• The anti-quarantine protests seem spontaneous. But behind the scenes, a powerful network is helping (Washington Post)

WORLD

• China Imposes New Limits as Coronavirus Fears Return (New York Times)
• Imams Overrule Pakistan’s Coronavirus Lockdown as Ramadan Nears (New York Times)
• Limits on testing in Brazil are hiding the true dimensions of Latin America’s largest outbreak (Washington Post)
• Indonesia has the world's biggest Muslim population. It just banned holiday travel over Ramadan (CNN)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

By Katie Cadiao, County of San Diego Communications Office

April 24, 2020 (San Diego) - The number of local COVID-19 deaths went up by two and total cases saw a record increase for a second day in a row with an additional 183 confirmed cases, the County Health and Human Services Agency announced today.

By Chris Jennewein, Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego Online News Network

Photo:  Lifeguards enforce the closure of city beaches. Photo by Chris Stone

April 24, 2020 (San Diego) - San Diego County officials announced Friday that coastal cities may reopen beach access for swimming, surfing, paddleboarding and kayaking on Monday.

“The ocean is a symbol of who we are as San Diegans, and it is appropriate at this point that we open up limited access to the ocean as a step in our continued progress,” said Fletcher at the county’s daily media briefing during the coronavirus pandemic..

East County News Service

April 24, 2020 (Washington D.C.) – After the first round of Small Business Administration (SBA) funds for businesses impacted by COVID-19 ran out, Congress approved a new round of funding just signed into law by President Donald Trump.  

The funding window for the new round of funding under the Paycheck Protection, which is designed to help small businesses retain workers, opens Monday morning and must be submitted through an approved lender.  Applications previously submitted before the earlier round of funding runs out are also eligible for funding.

Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration Jovita Carranza and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin issued the following statement today on the resumption of the Payroll Protection Program (PPP):