Dear Readers,

This week, the Monterey County health department offered a frightening prediction of more than 30,000 cases of coronavirus in the county by the beginning of June. Is that prediction plausible? Kelly Nix reports.

The county’s revised shelter-in-place order targets gardeners and construction workers, and now the district attorney is threatening to prosecute them if they do “non-essential” work. Mary Schley has that one.

The U.S. Forest Service has closed numerous roads and trails in Big Sur to prevent “doomsday campers” from gathering. Chris Counts has the only-in-Big-Sur details.

Scenic Road will be off-limits to parking until the end of the month, and so will the beach parking lot at the foot of Ocean Avenue. The jazz drummer who was on a ventilator last week is on the mend, his family says. Meals on Wheels has a lot more people to take care of during the crisis, but it also has more volunteers to help. Worried about getting coronavirus several weeks or months from now? We consulted doctors for advice on how you should prepare. Details have emerged about the three county residents who have thus far died from coronavirus. The sheriff released almost 200 inmates from the county jail to keep the virus from causing problems there. A prominent local realtor has launched a new charity to help the Monterey Peninsula take care of its own. Community hospital received a major donation to help with safety during the epidemic. Monterey airport will receive federal money to help make up the revenue loss caused by the big drop in travel. Coyotes tried to attack several dogs and people in Pebble Beach last weekend. Del Mesa Carmel residents saying they’re mastering the art of being stuck at home. A firefighter explains how pandemics and other emergencies can be made worse by disinformation. Peninsula artists and musicians are expanding their options to stay creative during the shutdown. Neal Hotelling has the story of the origins of the Monterey cypress — lots of stories, actually. And my editorial says the health department’s predictions about a surge of coronavirus cases in the county can’t be true and shouldn’t go unquestioned.