Don't go to large gatherings this Labor Day weekend, warns Fresno County

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Excessive heat through the Labor Day weekend has health officials worried.

They're worried about large gatherings - especially indoors.

290 people have died of COVID-19 in Fresno County.

More than half of them - 152 - died in August. The coronavirus has surpassed heart disease and cancer as the leading cause of death in Fresno County.

Health Officer Dr. Rais Vohra urged people to avoid parties.

Dr. Vohra said, "The absolutely highest risk thing you can do is go over to someone else's home and spend time indoors with people that are not your own household because that will guarantee that someone in that gathering is going to have coronavirus and be able to pass it along to other people."

Dr. Vohra noticed spikes in COVID cases after both the 4th of July and Memorial Day.

To help fight the spread of the virus, community-based organizations have been reaching out to our most vulnerable neighborhoods to let people know what resources are available. To get the message to the Valley's diverse population, some said it needs to be translated into different languages.

Cultiva La Salud Director Veva Islas explained, "My community has been disadvantaged because the information going out hasn't necessarily been in their language, in places where they get information and they've struggled with getting that personal protection equipment."

Fresno County added over 1,100 more COVID cases this week. The county's positivity rate remained above the state's 8% benchmark at 11.9%.

Those numbers need to come down if Fresno County is to move from the Purple or "widespread" category to a lower-tier red or "substantial" on California's color-coded coronavirus plan.