Back to square one? County hopes not
EL CENTRO — Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday wants Imperial County to stay at home, and plenty of people aren’t happy about it.
Newsom said he was concerned about Imperial County’s high rate of positive tests and its stressed hospital system. He has already sent the National Guard to help. He said the decision on the stay-home order will be up to county supervisors, but if they can’t agree “I am committed to intervening.”
At a county press conference on Friday, County Chairman Luis Plancarte did not say the retail businesses that have already opened in Phase 2 would have to close, saying for right now, nothing changes.
He said the county will be working throughout the weekend and beyond to decide what has to do next.
He also acknowledged that even with everything the county has done, it is still seeing positive cases rise and hospital COVID-19 cases surge.
Plancarte said the county will continue to abide by the state order.
“We will look at what steps to take,” he said, before urging residents to stay at home unless it is essential and to remember to wear face coverings.
“It means sacrifice and responsibility,” he said. “We have no choice. Our health depends on it.”
Two groups that expressed dismay at the governor’s comments were the Imperial Valley Business Recovery Task Force and the Imperial Chamber of Commerce.
“Today’s recommended action by the governor is, in many cases, a devastating turn of events for our businesses who have worked hard over the last several months to implement proper safety precautions or a safe working environment,” the task force said in a written statement. “We understand the struggle our businesses continue to face, and we stand ready to assist the local businesses while they navigate this challenging time.”
The task force said it is first and foremost committed to the health and safety of local employees, customers, and all residents of Imperial County. The statement also noted that the vitality of the business community depends on the success of beating COVID-19. The task force said that, as a business community, it will work with county officials to help stop the spread of COVID-19 throughout the workforce.
Imperial Valley Chamber of Commerce Director Susan Paradis said in a Facebook post the recent news from the governor is devastating for the community as a whole, especially the business community.
“The Imperial Chamber has reached out to the Imperial County Board of Supervisors expressing the need to “stay the course.” she said. “Moving back to Phase 1 is not an option. While the safety of all individuals must be a priority, the Chamber continues to advocate for our businesses to open safely, this includes sixfoot distancing, face masks, temperature and taking, one to two persons at a time per business and disinfecting.”
She pointed out the supervisors did not move Imperial County into Phase 2, Stage 2, low risk. It was the governor who opened up the state and included Imperial County several weeks ago, and now is strong-arming the local government.
“We cannot stress enough that this is a community issue,” she said. “We are Imperial Valley Strong and it is going to take the entire community as a whole to change the health statistic.”
The Imperial Chamber will continue and advocate that a small business is a safer place to shop than the big-box stores.
She said if the Board of Supervisors mandates the county moves back to Phase 1, “we will be loud in our voice that all stores close.”
Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia said he understands the governor’s recommendation.
“The situation in Imperial County is alarming, and we need to be doing a lot more to address the sustained surge of COVID-19 cases,” he said, “These stakes come at a high human cost.
We need to get everyone on board and ramp up our mitigation efforts, medical capacity, as well as overall community awareness of the importance of testing and adhering to personal safety measures.”
He said everyone must do their part to save lives.
“Staying home is certainly one of the most effective ways of keeping each other safe and slowing the spread of COVID-19,” Garcia said.
Luis Flores Jr., who represents a group that petitioned against the county being allowed to reopen too quickly, was gratified by the governor’s stance.
“We wholeheartedly support Newsom’s recommendation, which reflects a public-health informed approach and is the appropriate response to the county’s alarming and chart-topping COVID-19 metrics,” he said.
Flores said the decision reflects his group’s appeal to the governor with 1,900 signatures to oppose moving the entire state to
Stage 2b in the Resilience Roadmap.
In two distinct communications, amid a positivity rate nearly three times above the 8 percent maximum allowed to move forward, Imperial County Supervisors sought to move the entire state to Stage 2b, Flores said.
“We support the governor’s push to shift from questions about ‘when’ to reopen, to ‘how’ we can address the spread and protect our communities.”
However, the county’s percentage of positive COVID test results as of Friday was a little more than 14 percent over a seven-day period, not the 23 percent that Flores stated in the letter or that the governor mention Friday.
Plancarte questioned why the governor looked at and averaged out the percentage for two weeks when the state metric is the seven-day average.
“The standard is a seven-day recovery period,” he said.
Plancarte said that in the next few days he and other county officials will meet with representatives and look at some of the changes the county has implemented.
Earlier this week MSNBC host Rachel Maddow visited Imperial County and implored the county to shut down. Plancarte said he cannot speak for the governor, but added he saw the show and became very concerned.
A few weeks ago, the county sent a letter to the governor’s office asking for local control. There was never a direct reply, but Newsom did mention the county in a press briefing and said it would not get a variance if it asked for one because the metrics have not been met.
Plancarte said unemployment figures have almost doubled from last year.
“We are following the governor’s directives,” he said. “We are having challenges in the county.”
He also said he sees people all the time out and about with no face coverings or not adhering to the 6-foot distance rule.
“How can we get our community to understand?” he asked. “We have all this information, but if you don’t do your part, it’s worthless.”