Governor orders Stanislaus County gyms, mall, churches to close as COVID-19 cases spike
Numerous California shopping malls, gyms, indoor church worship and salons will shut down again, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Monday in a new round of measures aimed at curtailing the fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak.
The closures will take place in counties that have been on the state’s monitoring list for three or more day. That’s a total of 30 counties, which includes Stanislaus, Merced and San Joaquin. In total, the closure will impact 80 percent of Californians, the Democratic governor said.
In addition, all counties in the state of California are now required to close restaurants for indoor dining, wineries, theaters, zoos, museums, card rooms, bars and family entertainment centers.
“This is a new statewide action, effective today,” Newsom said in a Monday press conference.
The announcement comes as COVID-19 cases continue to spike in California. There have been nearly 321,000 infections, as of Sunday, with more than 7,000 dead.
In Stanislaus County, positive cases are up to 5,177, an increase from Sunday’s total of 4,973. That’s more than double from 10 days ago. While the state positivity rate over the last 14 days is at 7.4 percent, heading into Monday, Stanislaus County’s was at 13.01%. The county’s rolling seven-day rate of infection stood at 17.56%.
The positivity rate is the number of positive COVID-19 tests compared to the total number of tests.
By comparison, the positivity rate in Texas hit a record high of 16.33 percent on Saturday.
The World Health Organization has recommended that positive rates remain at 5 percent or lower over a two-week period before a government reopens.
At Modesto’s Vintage Faire Mall on Monday, there was a sizable crowd of people, many shoppers either having their mandated-masks pulled down or not wearing any at all.
On businesses taking the necessary precautions, Bob Badal of Turlock said,: “It’s been pretty lax in our county. Even going to the Bay Area or Southern California, they’re very vigilant about wearing a mask. They’ll confront you. Here, there are businesses where people will just walk in without a mask and nobody says anything… to the point where you’re the only one wearing a mask and there’s 10 people in the store.”
It was not immediately clear when or if Vintage Faire would be closing in response to the governor’s order. Spokeswoman Annie Amies did not return a request for comment Monday afternoon.
Newsom referred to his reversals as “a dimmer switch” that doesn’t shut the economy down completely, but economist Sung Won Sohn said the governor has taken California back nearly to Square One.
“We are backtracking to where we were in March and April,” said Sohn, a business economist at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. Sohn said the economy will suffer for the latest shutdowns by the governor.
“Any thought of a V-shaped economic recovery has been nipped in the bid,” he said. “There is no chance of that at all.”
Sukari Campbell, of Modesto, works at the Ulta in Turlock and has been out of work since March 19.
“I’m not happy about it,” Campbell said of Newsom’s announcement on Monday. “I’ve been off work for the last 4 1/2 months, so it’s starting to wear on me. My biggest concern is the fact that unemployment is going to be changing again.”
Joe Boyer, of Modesto, agrees with Newsom’s decision.
“I think (the state and county) have done really well,” he said. “I think (President Donald) Trump nas done a great job, our governor, who I don’t like, but I do think he’s done a great job. Nobody’s ever gone through this before.
“If that’s the best course of action, then that’s what we should do.”
This story was originally published July 13, 2020 at 2:21 PM.
