In rare agreement, all Sacramento-area counties can reopen bars, gyms, camps and more
The four major Sacramento-area counties rarely agree on major policy changes, and the coronavirus pandemic has deepened that chasm at times. Yet all concur: it’s time to move forward.
Sacramento, Yolo, Placer and El Dorado counties will permit schools, movie theaters, bars, campsites, casinos, day camps, gyms, museums, zoos, spectator-less sports, hotels and more to reopen Friday, the first day they’re allowed to do so under a new state ordinance.
The politically and population-diverse counties’ unified step forward contrasts with their staggered march through Phase 2 of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s reopening plan last month.
Rural Northern California counties pushed Newsom to begin reopening the state’s nonessential brick-and-mortar business operations as long ago as April, and their plans to move into Phase 3 as soon as possible come as little surprise. El Dorado County officials won’t stand in the way now that the state has approved the next round of openings, spokeswoman Carla Hass said.
Casinos across the Nevada border have reopened, and people who work in Lake Tahoe’s hospitality industry are eager to start filling hotels and Airbnbs. El Dorado County wrote Newsom a letter last Friday asking the state to allow nonessential hotel stays and have the California Department of Public Health develop a work group dedicated toward safely allowing increased tourism during the pandemic.
“The businesses covered by the guidelines release last Friday (and recommended to reopen June 12th) may do so without any additional approval by the Public Health Officer/staff as long as they have developed and implemented a safety plan that reflects the guidelines,” Hass wrote in a text message.
Placer County will grant all affected industries permission to reopen Friday as well, albeit with slightly more trepidation.
COVID-19 cases have shot up 35 percent over the last week in Placer County due to outbreaks at the Auburn Jail, a fast-food restaurant and one family that traveled internationally, according to a media release distributed Tuesday. Sacramento County has also endured a COVID-19 infection spike tied to family gatherings, but health services director Dr. Peter Beilenson also announced Tuesday he’d let all affected businesses and activities resume Friday, provided the situation didn’t worsen.
Most of Placer County’s newly infected people are under 65 years old, though. And while Placer County’s seven-day average positive test rate rose to 1 to 3 percent, indicating the rise in total positive cases has little to do with increased test availability, the state allows any county with a rate lower 8 percent to reopen.
“We knew before reopening began that cases of COVID-19 would increase as the county reopened. We made clear in our attestation in May that our goals were to avoid overwhelming the health care system and to protect vulnerable populations,” county health officer Dr. Aimee Sisson said in the media release. “My team will watch the case rate metric closely in the coming days and weeks, as it is cause for concern. Should Placer County’s data not meet the state-defined cutoff, I will engage our Board of Supervisors and the California Department of Public Health to identify what is driving increases and identify action steps for addressing issues that impact areas of concern.”
Yolo County’s quick move forward is slightly more surprising than its neighbors to the east. The county began allowing restaurants to reopen for sit-down dining and customers to shop inside stores on May 27, nearly two weeks after Placer and El Dorado counties did so and a week after Sacramento County.
The Yolo County Board of Supervisors pushed back restaurants and shops’ reopening because they wanted to see a more detailed safety plan than was originally proposed. Spokeswoman Jenny Tan indicated earlier this week that the county might impose additional restrictions beyond the state directives or keep some activities from resuming so quickly.
But county health officer Dr. Ron Chapman told supervisors Tuesday he thought the state guidance went far enough, and director of public health Brian Vaughn noted there had been little spike in the two weeks since reopening restaurants and shops, the Davis Enterprise reported. And despite one supervisor’s reservations about reopening bars, the county gave all state-sanctioned businesses and activities the green light to resume operations Friday.
“I have reviewed the guidances, they are extremely well done,” Chapman told the board. “I feel comfortable recommending that we allow these activities and businesses to reopen on June 12 as we continue to build this new normal.”
Though all counties came to the same conclusion about reopening Friday, there’s no guarantee that agreement will last in the future.
At least one already appears to be eyeing the next slate of changes. Placer County plans to write Newsom a letter this week seeking guidance on industries that remain closed, including nail salons, youth sports, tattoo parlors, indoor play centers, theme parks, live theaters, nightclubs, concert venues and college campuses.