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Some flags still going up despite COVID-19 jump
flags cofc

The Manteca Chamber of Commerce wants to make sure the Fourth of July doesn’t pass without the flying of at least a small portion of the 2,400 flags that would normally go up.

“Not all the flags will go up,” said Manteca Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Joann Beattie. “We wanted to observe the Fourth of July but at the same time adhere to public safety rules.”

Instead of relying on groups as they typically do for the placement and removal of flags as part of the Flags Over Manteca endeavor, the board has elected to personally place some flags at the heart of the city on the Fourth of July. They will be placed on several blocks of Yosemite Avenue and Main Street near the five murals on the side of Manteca Bedquarters honoring those who have served in five wars.

The decision to limit people placing the flags follows new orders put in place this week as COVID-19 cases surged in San Joaquin County.

The pandemic had previously forced the cancellation of the Fourth of July parade as well as the city’s family-style celebration at Big League Dreams. The surge in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks forced the city to cancel the annual aerial fireworks show.

There were 142 COVID-19 patients in various county hospitals as of 1 p.m. Thursday. That’s down from 128 the previous day. There has been another death to bring the number of people that have died from the coronavirus to 55.

There are currently 2,184 people among San Joaquin County’s 760,000 residents with the virus, up from 1,935 on Wednesday. When the 2,114 people who have recovered are added, there have been 4,298 cases since early March. The surge in testing continues to drive the death rate down in San Joaquin County. It was 1.3 percent of all cases as of Thursday compared to 1.4 percent Wednesday and 1.7 percent a week ago today.

Lodi cases — current and recovered — soared to 371 in the past week tying Manteca for the city with the second largest number of COVID-19 cases.
Since June 27 the number of people  known to have the virus or who have recovered have gone from 1,285 to 1,991 in Stockton, 237 to 371 in Manteca,  233 to 345 in Tracy, 72 to 101 in Lathrop, and 29 to 44 in Ripon. There have been 28 cases in Escalon.

 

To contact Dennis Wyatt, dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com