pandemic

Students and staff in the Merced Union High School District (MUHSD) will no longer be required to wear a mask indoors effective March 12. Superintendent Alan Peterson announced this decision following today's updated masking guidance from the state. This applies to both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals. Superintendent Peterson…

By Marc Medefind As soon as I was eligible, I got my COVID-19 vaccination. After an anxious year of waiting, I felt like a kid on Christmas Day when I got my…

By STEVE M. TIETJEN, Ed.D. Most Merced County students return to the classroom this week after a year-and-a-half of in-person learning, distance…

Merced County officially moved to Orange Tier on May 25 at noon, according to the Merced County Public Health Department. Dr. Kristynn Sullivan, Merced County’s Supervising Epidemiologist, told the Times, “Our metrics have been in Orange for two consecutive weeks.  Our daily cases are at 4.1 per 100,000 residents per day, and the…

Giancarlo DiTullio and Anaid Martinez-DiTullio were meant to be. They’ve spent most of their lives in a serendipitous world marked by happy…

Editor’s Note: For a community perspective on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic over the past year, the County Times has been interviewing local…

Editor's Note: The following profile is part of a special report series by the Merced County Times on the impact of COVID-19 on the Merced County population.  ‘You see all these huge corporations who are making more money, but we are the ones who are the most impacted.’ — Alejandro Trevino Jr. Trevino’s Mexican Restaurant  At 62, Alejandro…

Editor's Note: The following profile is a preview of a special report series by the Merced County Times on the impact of COVID-19 on the Merced County…

IMPORTANT UPDATE:  The Times and various Merced-area residents have been asking in recent days how people will be notified that they can start to…

'People are at risk of dying due to COVID simply because we are in danger of not having the resources to care for them if we continue to see the number of COVID cases increase at the current rate. ... Progressing to crisis level care means triaging medical care and ventilators so that not everyone who may need that level of care will be able to…