Closed again: Stanislaus among counties ordered to shut down restaurants, bars, more
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday called on 19 counties, including Stanislaus, to shut down restaurants for on-site dining and other indoor activities before the Fourth of July weekend.
Newsom also called on those counties to close winery activities and family entertainment venues including movie theaters, bowling alleys and arcades.
Stanislaus County’s top officials were in an emergency operations center meeting Wednesday afternoon.
“We are disappointed to see the state suddenly and unilaterally closing so many indoor businesses in our county, instead of working more closely with us,” county board chair Kristin Olsen said.
Olsen agreed some action was needed, such as closing bars which are high-risk for spreading the virus. “But the state’s extreme action today seems premature because we have more than enough capacity in our hospitals to accommodate patients,” she said.
The new restrictions take effect immediately. The governor said he wants counties to impose the new restrictions for at least three weeks. Restaurants are asked to return to offering food for pick-up or delivery.
The governor’s directive comes as the state experiences an unsettling surge in new cases, as well as higher infection rates, and more hospitalizations in the weeks after the state and most counties began reopening businesses and easing up on other restrictions.
The state recorded 5,598 new cases of coronavirus Tuesday and 110 residents of California lost their lives to the COVID-19 respiratory illness in the past 24 hours, the governor said.
Newsom said that although he was issuing a request to those counties, the state will step in to mandate the closures in any of the counties, if they decline to take the steps themselves.
He said the state intends the use the authority of bureaus and regulatory agencies, as well as fiscal measures in counties that resist the order to protect residents against the pandemic.
As leverage, Newsom said the state could withhold $2.5 billion in funding from counties that openly refuse to comply with the public health measures. The funding is designated in the state budget to help local governments with costs associated with the coronavirus outbreaks.
The 19 counties are all on the state’s “watch list” of counties that have been struggling in the last three weeks to contain a strong resurgence of the coronavirus. They represent an estimated 70 percent of the state’s population.
The order covers several major counties with rising virus infections: Los Angeles, Sacramento, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Santa Barbara. Also on the list are: Contra Costa, Fresno, Glenn, Kern, Kings, Merced, San Joaquin, Solano, Stanislaus, Tulare and Ventura.
Stanislaus County’s Health Services Agency is reporting new cases of coronavirus infection at a clip of 77 per day, or 541 positive tests in the past week. Hospitalization of patients confirmed with COVID-19 since June 23 has climbed from 82 patients to 113 in the county’s five hospitals. As of Tuesday, 35 critically ill patients were in intensive care units.
The county reported two additional deaths Tuesday, bringing the total to 44.
Nearby San Joaquin County had a 24-hour total of 565 new cases Tuesday and more than 1,600 of its residents have tested positive in the past two weeks, according to the Los Angeles Times case tracker.
The announcement comes during a two-plus-week spike in COVID-19 activity that has pushed California’s hospitalization and ICU totals to all-time highs. The state’s hospitals went from about 3,300 patients with confirmed cases of the potentially deadly respiratory disease on June 15 to more than 5,000 as of the most recent data update, a soaring 52-percent increase in 14 days, state dashboards show.
Newsom two weeks ago issued a statewide order that people wear masks when in the presence of others, both indoors and outdoors.
He followed that up on Sunday by ordering seven counties on the watchlist to close down bars, and requesting eight other counties on that list, including Stanislaus, to voluntarily do the same.
Stanislaus County has delayed reopening of personal services like nail salons, massage therapy and tattoo shops under the state’s guidelines. And the mood created by the governor’s announcement could further delay those openings.
Jody Hayes, county chief executive officer, said Tuesday many of those businesses have asked permission to reopen and the county had hoped to give approval by this week. An update on the latest state orders and recommendations is set for the Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday.
Cedar Lounge, a hookah bar and lounge, had just reopened. Cedar Lounge already had a lengthy closure after a 2018 fire. With Wednesday’s action, its future is murky.
“It’s horrible,” said owner Chrestina Abounaoum. “We couldn’t get approved for the loans. I don’t know what to do right now.”
She said even after reopening earlier this month business was down and through the nearly three months of closure her business has had no income coming in while the rent and utilities have continued.
One west Modesto resident said he didn’t agree with the decision to close restaurants, pointing out that many newly reopened restaurants just laid in supplies of perishable food that will now go to waste, and takeout and delivery services don’t replace eat-in revenue.
Loza Wine & Crepes, a bistro in Turlock, had diners in the restaurant when word of the closure mandate came out, but owner Yelena Tysmbal said she will comply and follow all protocols.
“I was like, ‘Do I tell them to swallow your food and get out of here?’ ” she said. “I am scared for the future, because I can’t afford to close permanently. I think a lot of people are in a similar situation.”
Cheryl Peterson of Hilmar said local public health officials have been risking lives by not closing bars and other businesses where customers mingle. “People are missing the point of masks and social distancing,” Peterson said in an email. “That is what is going to slow the virus.”
This story was originally published July 1, 2020 at 2:23 PM.
