S.J. County leaders: Help businesses stay open, get tested
Woodbridge Crossing to host test site as part of drive to avoid return to purple tier
STOCKTON — Business owners are fighting to keep San Joaquin County from falling back into the purple tier or at least making a return trip as short as possible.
San Joaquin County District Attorney Tori Verber Salazar, San Joaquin County Public Health Officer Dr. Maggie Park and Steve Ding, owner of Woodbridge Crossing restaurant in Lodi met virtually this week to discuss the consequences of the pending move into the most restrictive tier in the state’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy.
“This is the biggest season for businesses,” Verber Salazar said. “This is where a lot of them make a large amount of their money that sustains them through the times when it’s a little tougher. I met with Steve Ding and we were talking about that either we surrender and accept the results or we try to fight and appeal.
“We spoke with Dr. Park and she said, ‘Let’s fight. Let’s get more testing,’” Verber Salazar said.
With the clock ticking, free pop-up COVID-19 tests will be available from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday at Woodbridge Crossing in Lodi. For a list of more free
COVID-19 testing sites in the county, visit www.sjready.gov.
“If you want to help these restaurants, these mom-and-pops and the big businesses in our community stay open, take a test,” Verber Salazar said. “That’s the best tool you have to help out your favorite restaurant or church or your kid’s or your grandkid’s schools.”
Officials are encouraging residents get tested, even if asymptomatic, to help stop the spread of the coronavirus COVID19, that as of Thursday had infected 23,224 individuals (more than 21,000 have recovered) countywide since March, and claimed the lives of 500.
On Friday, there were 1,347 active cases, 72 COVID-19 patients admitted for care in the seven county hospitals, and adult intensive care units were operating at 102% of licensed bed capacity, according to San Joaquin County Public Health Services and the San Joaquin County Emergency Services Agency.
Park said more testing will reveal more positive results but also a number of negatives that will end up bringing down the county’s testing positivity rate, which along with case rates are the state’s measurable determinants. Even testing the lowest percentage quartile of the population where there is a lot of COVID-19 will have a long-term benefit because, “You’re going to find the positive people and isolate them.”
The state’s testing median is 272.41 per 100,000 residents for a county the size of San Joaquin, which is testing 219.3 residents per 100,000.
On Tuesday, San Joaquin County likely will return to the most restrictive tier in the state’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy, bringing hardships once again to businesses: indoor seating at restaurants, indoor services at churches and places of worship and reduced capacity in retail stores will be back in effect, and many other business sectors will feel the hurt, too.
Another shutdown couldn’t come at a worse time for businesses that depend on the holidays. For example, the Lincoln Center shopping center, Stockton has 90 businesses that employ 800 people. Only 19 stores were open during the state’s initial shutdown in March and spring.
If the county returns to purple, it will take at least three weeks to get out and move forward to the lessrestrictive red tier, where the county has been for about the last six weeks. In the red tier, some businesses could open indoors at limited capacity.
“The businesses are so important to us because they employ people and the best criminal prevention tool we have is a job,” Verber Salazar said. “We really need to keep people employed and we really need to keep the economy moving forward.”