Want to leave Sacramento for the holiday weekend? Here’s why Lake Tahoe isn’t the answer
Memorial Day weekend in Sacramento promises a lot of sun and temperatures that are forecast to flirt with triple digits. Summer’s coming early to a sheltered-in-place region eager to go somewhere else during the holiday break.
The forecast in one word: “Spectacular,” El Dorado County spokeswoman Carla Hass said Wednesday.
In any year other than 2020, holiday weekend plans would be a no-brainer. Hop on U.S. Highway 50 and point the car toward Lake Tahoe. But stay-at-home orders and phased reopenings have complicated matters for would-be travelers.
Lake Tahoe awaits, but can you go there? Short answer: No.
All nonessential travel into the El Dorado County portion of the Lake Tahoe basin remains banned indefinitely as part of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s stay-at-home order and the county’s own travel restrictions.
“If you’re not fortunate enough to live in the Lake Tahoe basin, you’re not supposed to be there to recreate,” Hass said. “We don’t anticipate (the order) will be lapsing before Memorial Day.”
Hass didn’t mean to be the bearer of bad news, but here we are.
That news will surely come as a disappointment not only to a stir-crazy Sacramento region but to El Dorado County residents as well, days after restaurants, stores, wineries and other signposts of the county’s economy have begun to reopen.
“We want people to stay in their neighborhoods as much as possible and not travel to the far corners of the county,” Hass said of El Dorado County residents. “There are a lot of parks and restaurants (that are open), but we prefer they stay as local as possible.”
The impact will almost certainly be felt hardest in South Lake Tahoe, where the extended weekend in normal times would be one of the biggest and busiest on the city’s calendar.
“We love our visitors and recognize how much they contribute to this city and the economy,” South Lake Tahoe city manager Joe Irvin said in a statement released Wednesday. “We just know how important it is to get things open safely and we all understand we are stronger together and safer apart right now.”
Few COVID-19 cases have been reported in El Dorado County – 67 as of the latest count Wednesday afternoon, statistics show – but health officials say community transmission of coronavirus is occurring in El Dorado County and that no area of the county is considered to be at low risk.
Five of those cases have been reported in the Tahoe region in recent days, county health officials told the Tahoe Daily Tribune – two cases Friday and three more Monday.
The Tahoe region had more than a quarter of the county’s total cases, the newspaper reported, citing county health figures, but county officials told the Tribune the numbers are not tied to El Dorado’s reopening efforts.
Dr. Nancy Williams, the county’s health officer, referenced the potential impact of nonessential visitors on the availability of food and essential supplies at markets and pharmacies, and concerns of undue strain on the area’s health care system in her April 30 order.
“Significant risk would still exist were the state’s nonessential travel ban to be lifted,” the order read.
Property owners can come to South Lake Tahoe, city officials announced Wednesday, but visitors are still being asked to stay away. Short-term rentals and lodging are not available.
That dose of reality is bitter to take, but the right remedy right now, Irvin said.
“We would love nothing more than to welcome everyone to Tahoe right now, but that’s not the safest way to bring people back,” he said. “We need to be responsible and make sure we are doing our part to keep our neighbors safe and Tahoe safe.”
This story was originally published May 20, 2020 at 3:10 PM.
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