Fauci’s dire warning came as many communities are hitting the brakes on reopening due to the rising tide of infections.

Nearly 100 residents of a California housing facility for migrant farmworkers have contracted the coronavirus, officials said Monday.
The 95 people who tested positive for the coronavirus represent nearly half the population of the Villa Las Brisas complex in Oxnard, Calif., where many of the countrys strawberries are grown. Though equipped to fit as many as 441 workers, the facility slashed its capacity to 205 in response to the pandemic, the Ventura County Star reported. Nonetheless, after two berry pickers began displaying coronavirus symptoms, further testing detected a dozen additional cases in the dormitory-style apartments.
Officials decided to test everyone living at the complex, Ventura County Health Director Rigoberto Vargas told the Star. The number of confirmed cases could easily grow in the coming days, since results are still pending for 100 farmworkers.
Californias coronavirus caseloads have continued to worsen in recent weeks despite new restrictions such as mandatory mask wearing. The state reported 6,300 new cases on Tuesday, including 186 in Ventura County. Since the pandemic began, Oxnard has reported the largest number of infections in the county, accounting for 918 out of 2,926 total cases, according to local health data.
The tens of thousands of farmworkers who come to Ventura County each year have historically faced overcrowding and undesirable living conditions, prompting the construction of temporary dormitories.The Villa Las Brisas complex was developed by Reiter Affiliated Cos., a major berry producer, though most residents are employed by third-party contractors rather than the company itself, according to the Star.
Though the first Las Brisas residents to test positive were placed in isolation at a motel, the number of cases has grown so large that infected farmworkers are being quarantined at the complex instead, Vargas told the Star. Those who arent sick will be moved elsewhere.
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