LAKE COUNTY — Lake County Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Pace has amended his shelter-in-place orders to ease up on some types of restricted activity and partially reopen Clear Lake.
Pace issued an updated public health order Thursday afternoon, specifically allowing for more recreation and for certain types of businesses to reopen—as long as safe practices like social distancing are maintained.
Announcing the new orders, Pace referenced the low incidence of confirmed coronavirus cases in Lake County—there had been only six positive test results by Thursday at press time, with five recovered and no deaths—as one reason for the rollbacks.
“Since the anticipated surge in coronavirus cases has not materialized, we are taking the first steps toward loosening up some of the restrictions that limit social mobility and business activity in Lake County,” Pace said. “The governor’s orders have the ultimate authority, however; local public health orders can be more restrictive, but not less.”
The closure of Clear Lake last month as shelter-in-place rules were initially clamping down drew criticism from numerous Lake County residents in public forums, who argued that the risk posed by activities like solitary fishing and boating is negligible. Pace has contended that the closure of the lake was intended to dissuade out-of-county travelers, who could have the coronavirus, from vacationing here.
Now, some uses of Clear Lake, as well as other centers of outdoor recreation like parks and golf courses, will be permitted.
Fishing from the shore of Clear Lake is now allowed, as is the use of “paddle-propelled watercraft” that can be launched by hand. Gatherings of more than two people in and around the lake for these purposes are prohibited, however.
Among other things, the use of the Highland Springs gun firing ranges is now allowed, as is socially-distanced golfing, and hiking and jogging in parks.
Real estate transactions and the house showings that often accompany them will be allowed, but are recommended against if unnecessary.
“Virtual showings and dealings need to be the first line approach,” the new public health order states. The regulations allow two visitors at a time representing the buyer and one person to show the unit for sale to engage in showings.
Pet groomers will also be allowed to reopen their businesses, with “appropriate social distancing,” the order states. Barbershops, nail salons and “cosmetology businesses” will be required to remain closed (Gov. Gavin Newsom’s statewide order mandates this).
The loosened restrictions went into effect at 2 p.m. Thursday.
Five weeks have passed since Pace first put shelter-in-place orders into effect for Lake County, on March 18, in response to the spread of coronavirus, which at that time had been confirmed in about 8,000 people across the entire U.S. Gov. Newsom blanketed similar orders across the state the next day.
As of Thursday afternoon, nearly 7,000 cases had been confirmed in the Bay Area alone, less than 20 percent of the 37,000 cases in California. Nearly 855,000 cases had been confirmed in the U.S.
Supervisors to offer paid leave to essential employees
The Lake County Board of Supervisors this week approved a resolution to offer paid leave for county employees deemed “essential,” who are still doing their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The policy, which was passed unanimously by the board and will offer 80 hours of paid time off to qualifying county employees, parallels an 80-hour emergency paid sick leave benefit mandated by recent federal legislation that has allowed county employees not working during the coronavirus pandemic to be paid for some of that lost time.
In support of the benefit, Lake County Sheriff Brian Martin noted the federally mandated EPSL benefit would create a disincentive for essential county employees to come to work while their “non-essential” colleagues are afforded extra paid time off. The resolution’s implementation of paid leave for essential workers would remedy that, he said.
“This is a direct response to what the Fed did, when they mandated that we give two weeks of pay to employees, but didn’t provide the funding to do that,” Martin said.
Lake County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson said estimates predict that the added 80-hour benefit could cost the county up to roughly $1 million, about 40 percent of which would come out of the general fund.
“Comparatively, the cost of the lost productivity of our employees who are receiving the (federally mandated) emergency paid sick leave at 80 hours each while they’re sheltering in place, we estimate to perhaps even exceed that amount,” Huchingson added. By last week, she noted, more than 200 county employees had requested emergency paid sick leave, with more likely to come (the county employs roughly 1,000 people total, according to its website).
District 5 Supervisor Rob Brown expressed concern that the county could not afford to implement the additional 80-hour paid leave benefit, due to what he anticipates will be a large financial blow from the coronavirus pandemic.
“Once this is all said and done, this is going to be the first time in the history of the county that the board of supervisors will have to look at laying off people instead of just cutting positions,” Brown said. “We’ll see who’s really essential at that point, because we’re going to be laying off people who are defined as essential by the governor’s orders.”
District 2 Supervisor Bruno Sabatier sharply disagreed with Brown’s assessment, however.
“We have money,” Sabatier said. “We need to be real with the public that this is not going to make us cut positions or have to lay people off at this moment in time.” Based on his own research, he said, the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic “isn’t even tapping into the rainy day fund.”
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that hair and nail salons would be allowed to open as a result of the new public health orders. In fact, these two types of businesses must still remain closed.
