<p><br>
</p>
<p>Governor Gavin Newson has ordered all 58 county registrars of voters in California to send absentee ballots to all registered voters to ease concerns about whether it will be safe to vote in person during the COVID-19 pandemic.</p>
<p>The move comes as voters have expressed concerns in planning to vote in November while the state is still under a mandatory stay-at-home order with no specific date when it may be withdrawn.</p>
<div dir="ltr">
<p></p>
<p>President Trump is demanding that new sections of the border wall be painted black in a move that could add at least half a billion dollars to the cost of the project.</p>
<p>The new order comes after Trump told staff that he noticed that a black granite countertop at one of his golf courses got hot in the sun, leading him to think that a black wall would deter illegal border crossings and make the wall seem more imposing.</p>
<div class="I_52qC D_FY W_6D6F" data-test-id="message-view-body">
<div class="msg-body P_wpofO mq_AS" data-test-id="message-view-body-content">
<div class="jb_0 X_6MGW N_6Fd5">
<div>
<div id="yiv4219246463">
<div>
<p></p>
<p>Just as states are removing COVID-19 quarantine orders, a new policy by the US Defense Department will permanently bar any person that had the coronavirus from joining the military.</p>
<p></p>
<p>A man from El Salvador being held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) contracted the COVID-19 virus in the facility and died at a local hospital after being on a ventilator for nearly a week.</p>
<p>Carlos Ernesto Escobar Mejia, 57, who was being held at the Otay Mesa facility, had been was one of 202 detainees there that have tested positive for the deadly virus.</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>The US federal government has offered loans to states to help them through the COVID-19 crisis and the state of California is now the first state to access those funds.</p>
<p></p>
<p>California Governor Gavin Newson said on Tuesday that schools in the state may open in late July or early August, but he added that no formal decision has yet been made.</p>
<p>The governor spoke about schools during his daily briefing on the COVID-19 crisis where he outlined his new four-phase plan to reopen the state in steps over the next weeks and months.</p>
<p></p>
<p>San Diego County health officials yesterday released updated statistics that show only 1.5% of the County’s population has been tested for the COVID-19 virus, totaling 50,271 tests and 3,432 confirmed cases.</p>
<p>271 people have died of the virus in San Diego County.</p>
<p>The totals up through April 28th tracked 761 patients in the hospital, with 241 of them in Intensive Care Units (ICUs).</p>
<p></p>
<p>Some local San Diego area beaches will be open again on Monday, April 27th, as some COVID-19 crisis stay-at-home order restrictions are lifted.</p>
<p>On Friday, April 24, the County of San Diego announced that local cities could open beaches starting on Monday, but the state and county stay-at-home orders remain in effect.</p>