When should the local economy reopen? Stanislaus mayors say sooner rather than later
As Stanislaus County officials are working within Gov. Gavin Newsom’s framework to slowly reopen the economy from the new coronavirus pandemic restrictions, several of the region’s mayors are asking to accelerate the process.
Stanislaus County Supervisor Kristin Olsen, chairwoman of the board, said in a post on her Facebook page Monday evening: “The (emergency operations) team — in collaboration with Public Health, the County, and all nine cities — is working to open outdoor activities, automated car washes, and ‘drive-in’ church services prior to this weekend, under specified social distancing protocols.”
Also Monday evening, the mayors of seven of the county’s nine cities sent a letter to Newsom, asking that he “pursue an aggressive strategy for reopening our county for business. One size does not fit all. A reopening process that may fit, and make sense, for the Los Angeles and our neighboring Bay Area regions does not work for our county.”
The mayors wrote the economy could reopen in stages and with the continued use of measures to limit the spread of the coronavirus, including social distancing and limiting groups to no more than 50 people. They said houses of worship, barber shops, salons, dog groomers, restaurants (with seating limitations) and golf courses could reopen in the first stage, as well as the limited use of city parks.
Newsom addressed requests like those from the Stanislaus County mayors in his address on Tuesday, pointing out that statewide numbers of positive COVID-19 tests, hospitalizations and deaths have risen in the most recent data:
“So if you’re living in a community where you think, ‘Well, we’re immune, we’re OK, we’ve got this. We’re not LA, we’re not some of these other counties in the state of California, I hope you’ll disabuse yourself of that and consider the fact that some of the most challenging parts of the state remain some of our rural parts of our state,” he said.
Restart economy safely, in phases
Olsen said in an interview Tuesday she agrees with the mayors that it would make sense for the governor to delegate decisions to local officials regarding how and when to reopen the economy.
But any reopening would be over phases and done in a slow and safe manner and the county would have to continue its efforts to test people and do contact tracing. Those efforts would have to be “robust” and “those two factors are very important.”
Stanislaus County rolled out a mobile testing site this week; of the 50 appointments on Monday, 38 people were tested, 11 didn’t show up and one person canceled. Results of the tests were not immediately available.
Two Stanislaus County mayors, Newman Mayor Robert Martina and Patterson Mayor Deborah Novelli, did not sign the letter.
Martina said the other mayors likely called him about the letter, but he didn’t get back to them in time. He agrees that the nine mayors know what’s best for the county and said people in Newman want to see the city reopen when it’s safe. But he cautioned against an “immediate, aggressive” reopening that the seven mayors requested.
“I don’t know if I’d go that far,” Martina said. “I think sometimes people have to realize there are experts in this area and their words mean more than anything else.”
‘Health of our citizens is more important’
Without a vaccine or widespread testing, Martina said reopening plans should proceed based on what reliable sources recommend.
“I just don’t want to see more people get sick,” he said.
Novelli said she declined to sign the letter. Though she agrees with the economic concerns of the mayors who wrote it, “I want to take a more measured approach.”
“I think the health of our citizens is more important right now.”
County Supervisor Terry Withrow said Tuesday the county leadership is looking for ways to slowly open the economy without being in violation of the governor’s stay-at-home and social distancing orders.
“We are looking at a loosening of restrictions for various sectors,” Withrow said. “It has to be within the rules of the governor’s executive order.”
Noting that he’s only one voice on the board, Withrow said he’s starting to fear the consequences of the shutdown could become worse than the effects of the coronavirus.
He said county government is looking for ways to relax some restrictions while keeping an eye on testing and the number of cases.
“To the extent we have some latitude, we are going to make our own calls. We are going to err on the side opening more things up,” Withrow said.
Any decision would have to start with the public health officer, Dr. Julie Vaishampayan, county Office of Emergency Services spokesman Royjindar Singh said. She issued the county’s most recent stay-at-home order April 2.
“Beyond that it would go up to to CEO’s office then our (Emergency Operations Center) directors on how that would get rolled out to the community but as of now there is now plan in place ... We don’t want to contradict the governor’s order.”
Hospitals prepare for COVID-19 surge
In the meantime, local hospitals are still putting off elective surgeries as they prepare for a potential increase in COVID-19 cases..
Sacramento-based Sutter Health, affiliated with Memorial Medical Center of Modesto, said planning for a surge of coronavirus patients remains a top priority for the nonprofit system of hospitals and medical offices.
“While we have not seen a surge of COVID-19 patients requiring critical care, we continue to care for patients across all our care settings and a surge could still materialize,” a Sutter spokesperson said in a statement.
Memorial has postponed elective surgeries that can be safely rescheduled in order to free up space in the 423-bed hospital for COVID-19 patients, and that policy continues, the statement said.
Some elective procedures are proceeding at Doctors Medical Center based on determinations by the patient’s physician, a hospital spokesperson said.
“The number of patients at Doctors Medical Center that have tested positive for the coronavirus has been low and manageable,” the representative said. “The number of overall COVID-19 cases in Stanislaus County has also been relatively low. ... We want our community to know we can safely provide any needed care in our hospital and emergency department.”
As of Monday, hospitals in the county were caring for 13 patients who tested positive for coronavirus and 18 patients suspected of suffering from the COVID-19 illness, according to the California Department of Public Health.
Eleven of those patients were in intensive care.
As of Tuesday, 40 percent of total beds, 60 percent of intensive care unit beds and 23 percent of ventilators among the five county hospitals were being used, according to figures released late Tuesday afternoon.
Olsen also said the public should understand that this is not over until a vaccine is readily available, adding that could be 18 months. She said there could be two or three more rolling outbreaks.
“COVID-19 is not going away,” she said. “There could come a time when things have to ramp down. Those decisions will be made at the time.”
She said the restrictions may not be as strict or severe as the stay-at-home order the county is now under because officials are learning more about the disease.
“Life will not feel completely normal again probably for a good year or so.”
This story was originally published April 21, 2020 at 5:38 PM.
