LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County’s Public Health officer and Health Services Department staff are working on a plan to submit to state officials in order to allow an accelerated reopening of businesses and facilities that have been temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Gary Pace spoke with the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday morning about the next steps as Lake County moves into Stage 2 of the governor’s reopening guidelines. Stage 2 began on Friday.
The county has been under Pace’s shelter in place order since March 19. Pace changed the shelter in place order last week to be in alignment with the state shelter in place order, which remains in effect until further notice.
Pace told the board, “There’s caution and optimism at the same time,” as he speaks to schools and businesses about reopening while balancing a return to routines with efforts to keep the community safe.
As of Tuesday, Lake County’s confirmed COVID-19 cases remained at eight, all of them recovered, Pace said.
He said none of those eight individuals are contagious any longer, explaining that scientists have not been able to confirm the virus can grow in people after they come out of isolation.
Lake County has now tested more than 1,000 people, starting additional testing last week at two sites in Lakeport. Testing also is taking place this week in Clearlake, Pace said.
He said it’s important to reopen slowly, carefully and thoughtfully so there isn’t a need to shut down again.
As the county seeks an accelerated opening under the state’s rules, Pace said he wants to make masking mandatory in county businesses, with both workers and patrons to be required to use facial coverings.
He said he’s not interested in making masking mandatory when people are out walking, but he said that as people are mixing in the community, they need protections.
During the meeting Supervisor Rob Brown said he didn’t think mandatory masking was the way to go and that he opposed a “mandatory feel good requirement” that would be selectively enforced. He suggested it could be a good marketing tool and would be enforced by the market.
Pace said masking is about courtesy and taking care of your neighbor. He said that masking, social distancing and handwashing work to fight the virus.
As for enforcement, Pace said the county will ask businesses to follow a plan. Public Health won’t be approving or disapproving businesses’ plans, but businesses that are allowed to open in Stage 2 will need to follow state requirements and document that they have plans to follow health guidelines. They will need to post those requirements by their doors.
The certifications and guidance are available on the Lake County Public Health website.
If Public Health starts to get complaints, Pace said its Environmental Health Division will go out and visit businesses and educate them about the requirements. He said there is no interest in issuing fines.
“We’re not going to be able to keep the public safe if people don’t comply,” Pace said.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s reopening plan allows counties to move at an accelerated pace through the stages if they can attest to certain requirements.
Pace said Public Health intends to apply for a variance to follow that accelerated process.
On Tuesday afternoon, after the board meeting, the Governor’s Office announced that the state’s first two counties, Butte and El Dorado, attested that they have met certain criteria necessary to move further into Stage 2.
Butte has 20 confirmed cases and El Dorado has 60, with neither reporting any deaths to date, according to reports from their respective health departments on Tuesday.
Butte County has 210,291 residents and El Dorado 193,227, according to population estimates released this month by the California Department of Finance.
The California Department of Public Health reported that Butte and El Dorado can begin reopening dine-in restaurants and shopping malls, with modifications.
The state reported that several other counties also have applied for the accelerated process: Amador, Lassen, Nevada, Placer and Shasta.
Steps to seeking a variance
Health Services Director Denise Pomeroy told the board that her department has notified the California Department of Public Health of the county’s intent to seek a variance, meeting with the agency on Monday.
She said the county must be certified through a written attestation by the Public Health officer and supported by letters from the Board of Supervisors and local hospitals.
The state’s requirements for adjusting modifications include the epidemiological stability of COVID-19 cases, which Pomeroy explained means that there are no more than one case per 10,000 residents and no more deaths in the 14 days prior to the county’s attestation submission to the state.
Other requirements include providing copies of guidance to protect essential workers and availability of personal protective gear and cleaning supplies; a testing capacity of 1.5 tests per 1,000 residents, which Pomeroy said totals 700 per week in Lake County, and testing availability for 75 percent of county residents within a 60-minute drive; containment capacity; capacity of local hospitals to be able to handle a minimum 35-percent surge in COVID-19 patients in addition to handling normal care levels for non-COVID-19 patients; and the ability to shelter at least 15 percent of county residents experiencing homelessness, which totals about 86 people.
Pomeroy said the county must also be able to detail the county’s plan on which sectors and spaces will be opened, in what sequence, on what timeline, and indicate where its plan differs from the state’s timeline.
Additionally, the county must inform the state of emerging concerns and how it will implement early containment measures.
Pace said he wanted to have the plan ready for the board to review at its meeting next Tuesday, with plans to submit it to the state by the end of next week so the county could enter into an accelerated reopening the following week. He said mandatory masking in the stores and an enforcement framework would be included in the plan.
Supervisor Bruno Sabatier said he hoped the board on Tuesday would be able to give the plan final approval so it could be submitted as soon as possible to the state. “Let us know how we can help.”
Pomeroy said the goal is to have the plan read ahead of the Tuesday meeting, as early as Saturday or Monday, at the latest.
This article has been corrected to show that Pace’s most recent health order aligns with the state order and therefore doesn’t have a stated end date.
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Public Health officials preparing plan to accelerate Lake County’s reopening
- Elizabeth Larson
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