SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Santa Cruz County Health Officer Dr. Gail Newel told county leaders Tuesday that she plans to open the parks and beaches that were closed April 8 as part of several sweeping measures meant to slow the spread of coronavirus.
Newel also said that the county is looking to lift some of the current shelter-in-place restrictions on May 4, which could allow for gatherings of up to 10 people. That measure would be in coordination with other Bay Area health officers.
According to Newel, cases were doubling every six days before the shelter-in-place order. That number has been reduced, and is now doubling every nine days, an indication that the restrictions are helping to “flatten the curve,” Newel said.
County officials have not yet used the two alternate care sites it has identified to handle the expected high numbers of cases. One is at Simpkins Swim Center in Live Oak and the other at 1440 Multiversity in Scotts Valley.
“I do believe this is a result of the majority of our community members doing what they need to do to protect each other,” Newel said, adding that residents should still be practicing social distancing when they are out.
“We have to remember that the reason we’re taking these actions is to save lives,” she said.
Easing the restrictions further would require several things, including decreasing hospitalizations for coronavirus for a 14-day period, having sufficient numbers of employees to investigate every new case and increased testing for the virus, said Health Services Director Mimi Hall.
In addition, county health officials would need at least a 30-day stockpile of Personal Protective Equipment such as facemasks for its emergency, medical and health workers.
Currently, the county receives about 10 percent of the PPE supplies it requests, Newel said.
“We have an extreme shortage right now,” she said.
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In other action, the supervisors voted unanimously to limit fees by third-party services that deliver restaurant food to 15 percent of the total online order.
The last-minute addition to the agenda was an attempt to target the delivery services, some of which were charging as much as 30 percent of the cost of the bill. But neither customers nor restaurants have bargaining power over the services.
Most restaurants are offering only takeout or delivery options, and residents who don’t want to leave their home due to quarantine restrictions depend on the third-party delivery services, County Administrative Officer Carlos Palacios said.
“Restaurants are struggling to survive given the restrictions that are in place,” he said. “Staff believes that this will have a positive result in reducing the financial burden on the already struggling restaurant industry.”
Santa Cruz and San Francisco recently enacted similar rules, Palacios said. The order takes effect at midnight, April 15, and lasts until the shelter-in-place order is lifted.
Supervisor Zach Friend said that the services, which many restaurants are being forced to use, are harming businesses’ ability to stay afloat.
“So I think this is an essential way to protect our small businesses,” Friend said.
Supervisor John Leopold agreed.
“It is amazing to me that in this time of crisis, that some of these services would be seeking to stick it to these restaurants that are just trying to make it,” he said.
