Stanislaus County lifts shelter-in-place order. State order to stay home still in place.
Stanislaus County’s public health officer lifted a coronavirus stay-at-home order Tuesday that’s been in effect for seven weeks to slow the spread of COVID-19 illness.
Dr. Julie Vaishampayan issued the amended order around 5 p.m. Tuesday after county leaders promised no enforcement if local businesses start serving customers again.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s shelter-in-place order in March, closing thousands of businesses across the state, remains in place.
The county still has health orders in effect for quarantine and isolation of residents infected or exposed to coronavirus, and restrictions still apply to nursing homes and congregate living facilities.
Stanislaus County doesn’t meet the criteria for approval under the state’s safe reopening process for businesses, which spells out social distancing guidelines and precautions for retail stores, restaurants and shopping malls.
The county has posted a “Good 2 Go Stanislaus” guidebook with recommendations for opening everything from real estate offices to restaurants and breweries. Kristin Olsen, chair of the county Board of Supervisors, along with the chief executive’s office and Opportunity Stanislaus worked with local business leaders to draw up the guidelines.
On Tuesday, the governor and state health officials released guidelines for dine-in restaurants, calling for disposable menus, cleaning tables and chairs, and measures to maintain 6 feet distance between customers, employees and other diners.
The recommendations include masks for restaurant employees and requests that customers wait in their cars until a table is available. According to the state guidelines, restaurant barrooms should remain closed. Breweries, bars and wineries should remain closed unless they provide dining service.
State releases guidelines for malls, offices
Newsom also released guidelines for opening office buildings, shopping malls and outdoor museums. But counties must first get state approval before allowing businesses to open under the Stage 2 section of the plan. The state expects counties to have adequate testing capabilities, contact tracing, protections for seniors and other vulnerable residents and measures to prepare for a surge of hospital patients.
Stanislaus does not meet the basic state requirements of zero deaths and no more than 56 new cases in the past 14 days. The county has recorded 517 cases of COVID-19 and 22 deaths.
In a report to county supervisors, Vaishampayan said the county is close to meeting the testing capacity and requirements for contact tracing. It has protections for essential workers, as well as hospital capacity, but needs to meet requirements for protecting vulnerable populations.
In addition, the county needs to ensure nursing homes have a 14-day supply of personal protective equipment.
Deaths from COVID-19 surpassed 80,000 nationwide this week and are projected to reach 137,000 by August. By comparison, influenza outbreaks in 2017-18, one of the worst seasons in decades, inundated hospitals across the nation and caused an estimated 80,000 deaths.
California has recorded 2,882 deaths, with the death toll projected to reach 6,000 by August.
COVID-19 should not be taken lightly
The novel coronavirus causes symptoms including fever and cough and, in serious cases, attacks the lungs, putting people in the hospital with pneumonia.
Medical experts have described severe cases in which the virus inflicts damage on the heart, kidneys, the brain, blood vessels and other organs.
Leading health experts including Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, have also warned of a syndrome in children that’s possibly tied to 100 deaths in various states.
For the most part, hospitals in Stanislaus County and other parts of California have not been slammed by the coronavirus pandemic, whether it’s because of stay-home orders or other reasons.
Vaishampayan has told county leaders the outbreak here peaked in late March or early April. Tuesday, she cited hospital emergency department data that less than 10 patients per day complained of fever and respiratory symptoms in the past four weeks.
As of Wednesday, 35 people with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 illness were in the five hospitals in the county.
An outbreak at the Turlock Nursing and Rehabilitation Center is blamed for recent a spike in positive tests, hospitalizations and deaths.
Vaishampayan told supervisors that residents should be at low risk of contracting the virus while shopping at stores, if they take precautions such as social distancing, using hand cleansers and not touching your face. She also recommended wearing a mask.
This story was originally published May 13, 2020 at 2:48 PM.
