County plans to close parks on Easter
County officials Tuesday moved toward shutting down parks at least for the upcoming Easter weekend, and perhaps longer.
The move came after a public outcry following an apparent misunderstanding involving a county notice issued over the weekend regarding visitor restrictions at county parks during the traditionally busy holiday during the coronavirus pandemic and the county’s shelter in place orders.
County parks have remained open to the public with restrictions despite the county orders aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus, apparently to allow people access to use of the parks for individual outdoor activities such as hiking, walking and biking to encourage residents to get exercise and stay healthy.
Supervisor Luis Alejo, who called for the issue to be addressed on an emergency basis during Tuesday’s county board meeting, argued that county parks should be closed until the county’s shelter in place order is lifted on May 3.
Alejo called the issue one of “great community concern,” noting that experts have predicted the
next two weeks could be the most difficult of the pandemic with rising numbers of cases and deaths and underscored the need for people to stay home except for essential reasons. He argued that allowing people to gather even in small numbers at county parks and ask county staff to enforce restrictions was not reasonable or realistic, or fair to staff.
The other supervisors also spoke in favor of closing the county parks, at least for Easter weekend.
County Administrative Officer Charles McKee told the Board of Supervisors he would fashion an order aimed at closing the county parks and a provision for re-evaluating the situation later, and said he intended to release the directive later Tuesday.
County Resource Management Agency officials issued an advisory over the weekend outlining county parks restrictions including prohibitions on gatherings of more than 10 people, no barbecues or large bags and coolers, and a requirement to observe social distancing rules including staying
6 feet away from others.
But the response, especially on social media, suggested many people didn’t realize the county parks had remained open during the orders and believed they were being opened specifically for Easter weekend.
Latest victim identified
An 83-year-old woman from Aromas has been identified as the coronavirus victim who died at Natividad last week.
Mary Lou Vizacarra died on Friday at the countyowned hospital, according to Monterey County Sheriff’s spokesman Deputy Chief John Thornburg. Vizacarra lived in the part of the community located in San Benito County so is not counted among the Monterey County Health Department’s coronavirus statistics, leaving the total number of county residents who have died of the virus at two.
On Monday, the Sheriff’s Office identified the first county resident to die of coronavirus in the county as 97-year-old Rosealeigh George of Monterey, who died at Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula on March 30.
All coronavirus deaths that occur in the county are reported to the county coroner’s
office regardless of where they live because the deaths involve infectious disease, Thornburg said, adding the coroner is not investigating the deaths.
The first county resident to die of the disease has been reported as a North County man in his 50s who died at Watsonville Community Hospital on March 20.
Lab testing
The board on Tuesday postponed consideration of an ordinance proposed by Alejo that would require all commercial labs and other health care providers to provide coronavirus testing data to the county Health Department after county Public Health Officer Dr. Ed Moreno objected to the ordinance. He argued that he already has the authority to gain access to all testing data he needs and expressed concern about overloading county health staff with irrelevant information. Alejo argued that the county should be getting at least as much testing data as other counties do, especially involving coronavirus patients’ ethnicity to show whether that is a factor in the virus’ impact.
The board also adopted a suspension of the county’s special paid leave provisions while federal paid leave is
available, with some exceptions, despite county employee labor union concerns.
Also Tuesday, the county board heard from several Natividad nurses calling for access to adequate personal protective equipment and expressing fear and concern about being able to properly care for coronavirus and other patients without it if they and their colleagues are exposed to the virus, as well as the risk of transmitting the virus to the community and their families.
As of Tuesday, the county Health Department reported 63 coronavirus cases out of 1,300 patients tested by the county Public Health Laboratory and independent commercial labs.
Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula reported 14 coronavirus cases, six in the hospital, out of 236 patients tested and 16 results pending; Salinas Valley Memorial reported 26 coronavirus cases, two in the hospital, out of 381 patients tested and 21 results pending; and Natividad reported 16 coronavirus cases, one in the hospital, out of 333 patients tested (199 in the county public health lab and 140 in a Quest lab) with 14 results pending.