Carson Fighting High Rate of COVID-19

By Joseph Baroud, Contributor

In Southern California, news coverage of COVID-19 has largely overlooked the infection rates in smaller cities like Carson. Carson has one of the highest per-capita rates of infection in the county at 204, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Health’s statistics.

Each city is responsible for providing its residents with the information and resources necessary to have the best chance of surviving this outbreak. More than 43,000 people in the United States have died from COVID-19 and there have been 1,755 confirmed deaths in Los Angeles County alone as of April 27. The main concern is stopping the spread of this disease, hence the stay-at-home orders and the shutdown of businesses across much of the country.

As a result of Carson’s infection rates, the city has stopped the bus lines.

The Los Angeles County Public Health Department is working with the county fire department to test people for COVID-19 at test sites all over the county. The county requires every city to partner with the fire department and a local clinic or hospital before providing the test site. The test sites are drive-thru and people administer the test themselves by staying in their car and swabbing their mouths.

The city formed a disaster control council made up of Mayor Albert Robles, Assistant City Manager John Raymond and other city support staff, which meets twice a week. Its job is to plan and oversee the city’s response to the  crisis. One of the successes of the disaster control council was bringing a test site to Carson, which opened April 21 at UCLA Harbor General. A second test site opened during the week of April 27 at the Congresswoman Juanita Millender-McDonald Community Center.

“The reason we’re so adamant about this is there are 88 counties [in Los Angeles] and Carson has the worst test rate,” Robles said. “I’d rather say, sorry for the inconvenience than, sorry for your loss.”

The city has also been taking steps to ensure that every resident has a mask, food security and is able to obtain essentials. Robles was critical of the LA County Public Health Department.

Robles accused the county department of not releasing information on the numbers of people who’ve contracted COVID-19 or have died from the coronavirus. He noted that this can be a deterrent to helping communities like Carson, which has many senior care facilities — where COVID-19 has thrived most.

The city has implemented a grab-and-go lunch program at the Carson Community Center. It operates Monday through Friday at 11 a.m.

The city also set up a food-delivery program, which primarily serves senior citizens. Either people who use the delivery system or their family members can call 310-952-1765 and place an order Monday through Thursday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. A city employee will drop the order off between three and five days of placing it.  There are three different packages that can be ordered between $43 and $55.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has made the lifting of stay at home orders contingent on an increase in negative test results statewide. In the meantime, Robles is urging  residents to follow the limits in place and keep calm until the pandemic is over.

For further information about resources in Carson, visit ci.carson.ca.us. Weekly city council meetings, are streaming there.