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Vol. 22, No. 17
YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
Future of Drive-up graduation affordable housing
Food Pantry Going Strong
by Kyle Szymanski
Delta Christian Community Food Pantry feeding families and souls during pandemic. Page 5
Staff Writer
Brentwood leaders have built a plan to mandate additional affordable housing in future developments. The amended ordinance, initially approved by the council earlier this month, targets the citywide and statewide shortage in affordable housing by requiring that 6% of future residential developments of five or more units/lots be affordable housing, with that mandatory affordable percentage rising to 10% in 2021. Developers can opt out by meeting other requirements, such as paying an
Celebrating Virtual Art Photo by Tony Kukulich
S
enior Angelica Hernandez Rosito arrives as Heritage High School staff distributes caps and gowns to seniors Wednesday, April 22. Principal Carrie Wells said that more than 450 students were slated to pick up their graduation gowns, though the form graduation will take is still undecided due to the current statewide stay-at-home orders. To view a video of the event, visit www.thepress.net/multimedia
see Housing page 20
County surpasses 700 COVID-19 cases by Tony Kukulich Staff Writer
Contra Costa Health Service (CCHS) announced this week that the county has surpassed 700 confirmed COVID-19 cases. According to CCHS data, 707 COVID-19 infections have been confirmed. The death toll related to the novel coronavirus pandemic climbed to 22 in the county. While new cases continue to be added, the rate at which new cases are confirmed has been slowing over the last three weeks. For the week ended April 18, new cases grew by 3.7% per day on average. The prior week, new cases were added at an average rate of 4.8% per day, and the
“ Stay in place, maintain your space, cover your face. One key way the COVID-19 virus spreads is through respiratory droplets that people expel when they breathe or sneeze.
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Dr. Chris Farnitano, county health officer week before that, confirmed cases grew at an average of 12.1% per day. There are 35 patients hospitalized for COVID-19 in the county as of April 19. Hospitalizations started to rise noticeably April 9 when the number jumped from 31 to 35. The number of hospitalized patients peaked at 44 on April 14 and has been slowly declining since then.
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Over that same period, fatalities increased from 9 to 22. Hospitals are operating well within available resource limits according to CCHS data. Of the 185 available intensive care units in the county, 106 are occupied. There are 289 ventilators in the county, with 64 in use. In East County, there are 54 confirmed cases in Antioch, 43 in Brentwood, 29 in Oakley,
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seven in Discovery Bay and one on Bethel Island. In the latest effort to slow the spread of COVID-19, a CCHS order now requires county residents to wear a face covering while in public as of Wednesday, April 22. Failure to comply with the new provision is punishable by fine, imprisonment or both, according to the order. “We now know that a significant number of people with COVID-19 lack symptoms, or become infectious before they start showing symptoms,” said Dr. Chris Farnitano, Contra Costa County health officer. “That is why we all need to start wearing cloth face coverings in see Cases page 20
Emergency Plans www.thepress.net/news/webextras
Jerry McNerney, Kamala Harris lead push for FEMA disaster plans.
Budding artists in Brentwood Union School District celebrate art from a distance. Page 8
Making A Splash
Former Heritage High swimmer Tyler James takes his talent to the pool at UCSD. Page 15
Adopt a Pet...........................18 Cop Logs................................21 Education................................7 Food........................................11 Legals.....................................19 Opinion..................................14 Sports.....................................15
Face Mask Order www.thepress.net/news/press_releases
County health requires all BART riders to wear face and onboard trains.