LAKE COUNTY — As California moved into “Stage 2” of the coronavirus lockdown last week, local officials revised Lake County’s shelter-in-place order to match the state’s, with few additional restrictions.
Lake County Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Pace on Friday put a new order into effect, essentially repealing local restrictions in favor of the statewide order’s rules, which were also revised on Friday.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s amended order, which moved California into the second phase of sheltering-in-place, allows some businesses not considered to be “essential” to reopen in a limited way. Nonessential retailers like sporting goods stores, clothing providers, bookstores and florists, were given the go-ahead to reopen for curbside pickup and delivery. The infrastructure that supports such businesses—including manufacturing and logistics—was also green-lighted.
Businesses still not allowed to reopen include what the state has called “personal services” like beauty salons. There has, however, been local discussion about how to allow businesses like hair and nail salons to reopen.
Last week, District 5 Supervisor Rob Brown encouraged the Lake County Board of Supervisors to send a letter to Newsom requesting barbers and cosmetologists be allowed to resume operations with extra precautions against COVID-19.
Lake County Chamber of Commerce CEO Melissa Fulton noted that local salon owner Rachel Tyrrell had proposed a protocol for such businesses to reopen that could make it safe for clients and providers alike.
Should Tyrrell’s recommendations be followed, Fulton indicated, “I would feel very safe going into the salons.”
Pace’s new restrictions add just one rule that goes beyond the requirements of the statewide shelter-in-place order. This “supplemental local order” requires lodging facilities to continue to “apply for and be granted exemptions from the (Lake County Public Health Department) for lodging of essential workers,” and restricts travel “by non-residents to Lake County for solely recreational purposes.”
Among other things, the revised orders meant that local waterways including Clear Lake would reopen to locals.
A protest in Lakeport that made headlines on May 1 had called for Pace to reopen Clear Lake, which was closed beginning in March after an influx of Bay Area residents to the popular fishing area in the first weeks of the coronavirus lockdown caused concerns about increased transmission of the virus.
Late last month, Pace revised his orders to allow non-motorized vessels back out on the lake, as well as fishing from shore. With no apparent surge of coronavirus cases following that partial relaxation of the restrictions, Pace determined last week that the lake could be safely reopened.
“We have seen no rise in COVID cases in the two weeks since the last modifications, so we will open the lake and other local waterways this weekend to local residents, in consistency with State Orders,” Pace said. “Boat ramps will be open, and Quagga Mussel program monitors will be in place.”
As of Monday morning, Lake County had eight confirmed cases of the coronavirus, with six of those patients reportedly recovered from the illness, and no deaths. One of the confirmed cases, which was announced last week to have occurred in the Lake County Jail, was described by the sheriff’s office as “an isolated one” that did not appear to have spread to other inmates.
