Fresno VA center scaling up safety measures amid COVID-19 crisis

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- At least six people are being treated at Fresno's VA medical center.

Those numbers come from a recently released interactive map by the US Department of Veteran Affairs.

Since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, veterans say the VA has implemented a series of new safety measures, starting with tents at the front door.

When she went to the VA a month ago to get tested for COVID-19, everything was running as usual.

She tested negative, but returned a week later with her husband after she was having difficulty breathing.

Jennifer Granados is an 8-year army veteran.

"From the last visit to the second visit, they set up screening before entering the VA," she says.

Granados is one of the more than 71,000 patients the VA has administered tests to nationwide.

According to their new map, they've had more than 5,000 confirmed cases, with 263 veterans testing positive in California.

Action News reached out to the Fresno VA to find out more about the measures being taken, but officials weren't able to provide a statement.

Granados, however, says most of her appointments are now over the phone, and her husband isn't allowed to go in the VA with her.

During her most recent trip on Wednesday, she says more aggressive safety measures are being imposed on patients.

"They asked me to step out and wait for them, and once they were ready they would put me in a room where the air was being filtered and they're wearing protective masks," she says.

While there have been 13 deaths statewide, there haven't been any reported at the Fresno VA.