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Features, Page 5 Volume 137, Number 42 — Locally owned since 1884
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Winters, Yolo County, California, Wednesday, November 11, 2020
Yolo County remaining in red for another week By Anne Ternus-Bellamy McNaughton Media
Crystal Apilado/Winters Express
A new concrete pad and extended walk-way outside the Winters HHSA office will offer more room for participants at the Winters Monday evening food distribution to practice social distancing.
HHSA Launching new drive-thru feature at Monday night food distribution By Crystal Apilado Editor-in-Chief The Yolo County Health and Human Services Winters office recently finished up renovations to their site to allow more access to their Monday food distribution efforts. Nolan R. Sullivan, the Winters HHSA Service Center Branch Director, told the Express that at the Monday distribution they would
be rolling out a soft opening of the new drive-thru food distribution feature. The new drive-thru access will take place around the side of the building. Drivers will enter the parking lot as usual and turn left around the building. In addition to the drive-thru set up, the Winters office also expanded upon the outside area with a large concrete pad to allow better social distancing opportunities for those who do
not have access to a vehicle to utilize the drive-thru feature. “It gets busy and will help with traffic flow, customer flow and social distancing,” Sullivan said. Zane Hatfield, Yolo Food Bank Director of Programs, said the drive-thru feature is contactless. Participants will be able to stay in their car and volunteers will load the food in. Hatfield said they are asking those who come to the walk-up
Yolo County elections staff member tests positive for COVID-19 By Anne Ternus-Bellamy McNaughton Media A staff member in the Yolo County Elections Office tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday. The individual had minimal interaction with poll workers but did work with other elections staff and some election observers, the county announced in a press release on Tuesday. “There was limited exposure to voter assistance centers or Yolo County residents and voters,” the release said. “The county’s contact tracing team will be working to ensure that those that were in close con-
I ndex Features ........................ B-5
tact are notified.” The office has been adhering to social distancing guidelines and disinfecting protocols, the county said, and all staff and visitors have been required to wear face coverings. Since learning of the positive case, however, the elections office has taken additional steps, including: • Temporarily limiting staff within the office to critical infrastructure to continue the elections canvass • Scheduling deep cleaning for impacted facilities. • Communicating consistently with Yolo County Public Health
Weather Date
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Eventos hispanos ....... A-3
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Opinion ......................... B-1
Nov. 10
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Classifieds ................... B-4 Community .................. A-6
Real Estate ................... B-2 Athlete of the Week..... A-8
80˚ 44˚
Rain for week: 0.00 in. Season’s total: 0.01 in. Last sn. to date: 0.03 in. Winters rainfall season began 7/1/20. Weather readings are taken at 9 a.m.
• Launching contact tracing investigations • Sending home all staff who are deemed to have been in close contact with the exposed staff member to self-quarantine and providing testing information. • Authorizing staff who are deemed non-critical infrastructure to telework for the time being. • Ensuring sufficient supplies and continuous trainings of personal protection equipment such as face coverings. • Continuing and increasing disinfection techniques. Elections staff will still meet the election certification deadline of Dec. 3, the county said. “To preserve the health and safety of our staff, observers and the public, we are taking extensive measures to contain this incident and are adjusting our election certification process accordingly,” said Yolo County Assessor/ Clerk-Recorder/Registrar of Voters Jesse Salinas. “We appreciate the public’s understanding and patience as we proceed through this situation safely.”
area to practice socially distancing, follow regulations and guidelines, and to wear a mask. Sullivan said they were able to utilize CARES funding for a bulk of the outside changes. Their goal was to shift the Monday evening distribution to more of a drive-thru model, but still have enough room to offer a walk up option. Other in-person
See HHSA, Page 5
Yolo County was allowed to remain in the red tier on Tuesday even as other counties, including Sacramento, moved back to purple on the state’s blueprint for reopening the economy. That means restaurants, gyms, places of worship and other businesses will be able to continue indoor operations locally for at least the next two weeks. The state’s calculations put the average daily new case rate for Yolo County for the week ending Oct. 31 at 6.7 cases per 100,000 residents, under the threshold of seven required to remain in the red tier. The county’s online COVID-19 dashboard had reported a higher number of cases during that week, but those numbers are often changed after the fact, including when a case is incorrectly attributed to Yolo County. But while the county avoided a return to purple this week and
Winters school officials proposed delaying the return to in-person learning to January 2021 with Yolo County COVID case numbers in purple tier range, and as site administrator and leadership teams make finalized details on their hybrid models. Assistant Superintendent Sandra Ayón told the school board they planned to continue the current distance learning model through the end of 2020 and into the first two weeks of January 2021 at the Winters Joint Unified School District Board of Trustees meeting on Thursday, Nov. 5. “We are committed to return to in-person learning when public health conditions allow and we are prepared to safely do so,” Ayón said. “Our plan addresses safety measures at school sites to protect the physical, psychological, and educational needs of our students and staff.” As of Tuesday, Yolo County remained in the red tier. However, with the cold and flu season in range and upcoming Winters JUSD scheduled
holiday breaks and expected travel staff recommended the delayed start date. Ayón noted some of the reasons behind the recommendation included: • The delay decreases contact risks. • The flu and cold season is kicking off during this season. • The first two weeks in January will allow for a natural quarantine after the scheduled winter break. • It provides safety for Winters JUSD students, staff and families. • Inadequate staff coverage. “There is a lack of substitutes in the area,” Ayón said. “We do not have the coverage for our area.”
Family survey notables
She shared results from the family survey sent out. The most notable being to the question, “If in-person learning resumed in the next month or two with a plan that meets Yolo County Public Health, state and local requirements, how likely are you to send your student(s) to school?”
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Administrators proposing to delay Phase 3 school reopening to January
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the subsequent impact on local businesses, the threat remains, with positive cases trending upward. “While we are not moving into the purple tier this week, we are seeing an uptick in the number of cases reported each day,” said the county’s health officer, Dr. Aimee Sisson. “Staying in red does not mean we can let down our guard,” she added. “To protect our community, residents need to continue to wear masks, keep their distance, wash their hands and only gather outdoors in small groups with distancing and masks.” The county dashboard lists 160 cases during the week ending Nov. 7, which will determine the metrics used in next week’s tier update. At an average of nearly 23 cases per day, that would put the county’s daily new case rate well above the threshold of 7 per 100,000 residents for the purple tier. But by returning to
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The reported survey results were: • 49.1 percent said: My student would return to in-person learning. • 27.4 percent said: My student would likely return to in-person learning, but I am not 100 percent sure right now. • 15.5 percent said: I would prefer that my student stay with Distance Learning for now. • 8 percent said: I do not want my student to return to in-person learning this year. Ayón also reported the results regarding whether families planned to send their student to school vs. a distance learning model after detailing that the hybrid model would have half the number of students than a typical classroom. And that live/ Zoom times would vary by site and available teachers on distance learning days. The reported survey results were: • 72.1 percent said: I plan to send my student to Winters in the hybrid model with in-person instruction
See SCHOOL, Page 5
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