At Tuesday’s meeting of the Yucca Valley Town Council, council members heard an update on COVID-19. Yucca Valley residents were reminded that they can get a free ride from MBTA to get tested at Copper Mountain College; they just need to call the town to arrange the ride. Testing is free and takes just a few minutes; visit sbcovid19.com to make an appointment.
Managing editor Tami Roleff says council members discussed how the pandemic is affecting schools and local businesses…
Mayor Pro Tem Merl Abel said he was encouraged to see that 28 elementary schools in the county have permission to start in-person instruction, and another 14 schools have applied to start in-person instruction.
“I’m hoping that our Morongo [Unified] School District will consider the application process as well.”
Council member Robert Lombardo was angry about the state’s shut-down orders.
“This really irritates me at a high level. I think they’re monitoring the wrong things and it boggles my mind how the governor can shut down the entire state and keep us from opening our businesses which are the lifeblood of our town.”
The council learned the county is talking with the state about breaking up San Bernardino County into regions, since some regions are not affected as badly as others, a proposal that Lombardo supported.
Lombardo then said the state should be measuring death rates instead of infection rates.
“It just seems to me that they’re measuring the wrong things; we should be measuring deaths. Because the more you test, the more you’re going to find some infected.”
He explained that doctors and hospitals are improving at treating those who are infected with COVID-19, which has reduced the death rate.
Lombardo then expressed his frustration with the current state of affairs.
“We need to get back to normal and there’s no way I’m going to accept that system as a new normal.”
