Coronavirus updates: Californians adjusting to state of emergency, tax deadline extended

As many of the state’s venues and schools announced closures Friday amid efforts to halt the spread of novel coronavirus, public health officials and authorities have issued new guidelines to help the public adjust to the unprecedented state of emergency that now grips the Golden State.

What to do in casinos and movie theaters

For the few entertainment venues that remain open, the California Department of Public Health issued new guidelines for employees and patrons late Friday to maintain social distancing measures and prevent transmission, according to a news release.

For gambling venues, public health officials advised the increased cleaning of playing cards, chips, shuffling machines and other game objects. Casinos and other gambling venues should limit the number of customers in a room to no more than 250 and ensure that social-distancing standards are met.

Events that target people at a higher risk for serious illness for COVID-19 should also be canceled, the department of public health said.

For movie theaters and other live performances, public health officials said reserved seating should be canceled to allow people to self-separate, and capacity should be reduced to between 50 and 60 percent per showing.

The Department of Public Health also directed venues to sanitize seats and tables in between showings, and increase time between showings to allow for more cleaning.

‘Disinfect 2 Protect’

Caltrans unrolled a statewide educational campaign across the state’s highways and freeways in response to the declared emergency over COVID-19.

More than 700 electronic highway signs across the state’s freeways and highways will display the following messages:

COVID-19 / LESS IS MORE / AVOID GATHERINGS and DISINFECT / 2 PROTECT / WASH YOUR HANDS

More time to file your taxes

The Franchise Tax Board announced a “special tax relief for California taxpayers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic,” granting extensions to file 2019 tax returns.

“During this public health emergency, every Californian should be free to focus on their health and wellbeing,” said State Controller Betty T. Yee in a statement. “Having extra time to file their taxes helps allows people to do this, as the experts work to control the spread of coronavirus.”

Individual filers now have until June 15 to file their returns and pay, the news release said.

Partnerships and LLCs who are taxed as partnerships now have a 90-day extensions to file and pay by June 15.

“Taxpayers claiming the special COVID-19 relief should write the name of the state of emergency (for example, COVID-19) in black ink at the top of the tax return to alert (Franchise Tax Board) of the special extension period,” according to the news release.

“If taxpayers are e-filing, they should follow the software instructions to enter disaster information” it said.

Sacramento-area schools shut down

Every public school district in Sacramento and Placer counties will close for up to three weeks starting Monday in a coordinated attempt to slow the spread of coronavirus. Some schools in Yolo County will also close.

That means more than 250,000 students in kindergarten through high school will be out of school in Sacramento County. More than 80,000 students combined in Placer and Yolo counties will also be out of school. Other districts in the region said they would discuss through the weekend whether to shut down.

All Catholic schools within the Sacramento Diocese will be closed for “a minimum of two weeks,” according to a letter by superintendent Lincoln Snyder that was sent to families Friday. School events, fundraisers and field trips are also canceled during this period.

Where do coronavirus numbers stand?

Newsom during a Thursday press conference said that California has confirmed 198 positive cases of the coronavirus. That total jumped to 247 as of 8 a.m. Friday, state health officials said.

Of 223 cases not linked to repatriation flights, 65 cases are travel-related, 52 are due to person-to-person transmission with a known carrier of the virus, 56 are “community acquired” and 50 are from unknown sources and being investigated, according to the state Department of Public Health.

The state says another approximately 11,400 people are self monitoring across 49 local health jurisdictions following international travel.

According to a map and data tracked by Johns Hopkins University, the United States had surpassed 1,700 total infections as of Friday morning, with the worldwide total surpassing 125,000 a day earlier.

More than 4,000 people have died of the coronavirus worldwide. Four deaths have been reported in California, and more than 30 in Washington state, according to health officials in each state.

What is the coronavirus? What are the symptoms?

Coronavirus is spread through contact between people within six feet of each other, especially through coughing and sneezing that expels respiratory droplets that land in the mouths or noses of people nearby. The CDC says it’s possible to catch the disease COVID-19 by touching something that has the virus on it, and then touching your own face, “but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.”

Symptoms of the virus that causes COVID-19 include fever, cough and shortness of breath, which may occur two days to two weeks after exposure. Most develop only mild symptoms, but some people develop more severe symptoms, including pneumonia, which can be fatal. The disease is especially dangerous to the elderly and others with weaker immune systems.

This story was originally published March 14, 2020 at 11:22 AM.