LAKE COUNTY — On the heels of a meeting with the county board of supervisors Monday, Lake County’s top doctor announced an accelerated plan to reopen parts of the local economy as soon as this week.
Under the expected changes—which still have to gain state approval—“low risk” businesses in Lake County would be eligible to open Thursday if they adopt safe social distancing and disinfection measures.
While currently available only for children of “essential workers,” childcare services would be allowed to start back up for the general population in groups of 10 or fewer children, a county press release describing the projected rollbacks notes.
Outdoor dining at restaurants would be permitted as long as businesses space out their seating to accommodate social distancing requirements. Bars and gaming areas would still be closed.
Retail establishments determined to pose low risk to customers could begin to invite customers back into their stores again. Some personal services, like car washes, pet grooming, tanning facilities and landscape gardening could resume operations. Outdoor museums and open gallery spaces would also be allowed to reopen.
Along with these projected changes, employees and customers at local businesses would be required to wear masks when inside. Exceptions would be made for people with medical conditions making it difficult for them to breathe under a mask, as well as for children six years old and under, and anyone who cannot easily remove a mask without assistance.
Prior to the board of supervisors meeting Monday, Lake County Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Pace had planned to reopen these parts of the local economy several days later than is now projected. Under his plan for variance from the State of California’s stay-at-home roadmap, which he presented to the board Monday, businesses would have been given the green light beginning May 26—after Memorial Day weekend—in order, as Pace explained, to prevent some of the tourism expected around the holiday.
The board, however, asked Pace to revise the date to allow reopening as soon as the state approved Lake County’s variance plan—a decision Pace now says he expects the state to make by Thursday.
“Once our Local Variance documents are approved by the State, I will gain authority to reopen businesses that are considered “Low risk” under the Governor’s Resilience Roadmap,” Pace wrote on Monday in the county press release describing the coming changes. “Following this morning’s discussion with the Board, I have decided to move forward with a plan to reopen eligible businesses May 21, pending approval by the State.”
District 2 Supervisor Bruno Sabatier, who advocated Monday for Pace to allow the first phase of rollbacks to begin as soon as possible, argued that Lake County has done well in locking down to protect itself from coronavirus infection to date, but that getting people back to work must now become a priority as well.
“Now we have a new balancing act that we need to do,” Sabatier said.
Pace noted that he has been in meetings with state public health officials and believes it is “probable our plan will be approved.” Since Gov. Gavin Newsom laid out counties’ options for local variance to the shelter-in-place orders early this month, more than 23 of California’s 58 counties have been approved.
On Monday, Newsom announced new benchmarks that are easier for some counties to meet, allowing roughly 53 counties to speed up their reopening processes, if they so choose.
Once Lake County’s plan is approved and businesses reopen, Pace explained that public health officials would monitor COVID-19 activity to determine whether the loosened restrictions are creating a spike in infections. After 10 to 14 days of stability, more reopening would be allowed to occur.
“If there is no significant increase in infections, and local healthcare partners remain well prepared for any potential surge in cases, we will take additional steps, likely Thursday, June 4,” Pace noted.
These additional steps would include reopening indoor dining at restaurants and resuming day camps and after-school activities for children in groups of 10 or fewer—all with disinfection and social distancing precautions in place.
If transmission of the coronavirus appears to be surging after the rollbacks are made, however, restrictions may be tightened down again. Pace writes that while “no one factor will entirely drive our decision-making,” certain events—like an increase of cases large enough to strain the county’s testing and containment capacity, “clusters of cases” indicating community transmission, or “significant” numbers of deaths or severe illness—could trigger re-tightening.
As businesses get ready to reopen, they must demonstrate that they are prepared to reopen in a safe manner by submitting plans to the county that detail how they will maintain social distancing, cleanliness, and other standards to mitigate the coronavirus risk.
Pace and other county officials have stressed that rigid imposition of legal penalties on businesses caught failing to maintain proper safety measures will not be prioritized by local law enforcement.
“We’re not really interested in enforcement, fining, and shutting down businesses,” Pace said during the Monday board of supervisors meeting. “But it is important to have some ability to talk to the businesses and help make sure that they are in compliance, doing what’s needed to keep people safe.”
