STRIKE TEAMS VISIT MONTEREY COUNTY
Will help with enforcing business compliance
Members of a state multi-agency COVID-19 enforcement “strike team” tasked with helping enforce business compliance with state health order guidelines are already in Monterey
County even as the state has moved to close down even more businesses in response to increasing numbers of coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths.
At the same time, Board of Supervisors chairman Chris Lopez and Monterey County Vintners and Growers Association Executive Director Kim Stemler expressed frustration at a lack of communication from the state about additional business closures.
County Health Department director Elsa Jimenez told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday that state strike team representatives are already in the county and will be making “unannounced visits” to area businesses. Jimenez told the county board there is a call set up between the state strike team and local officials for later in the week, and the hope is to coordinate enforcement efforts with the District Attorney and local law enforcement. She said the
strike team will focus on compliance education first with potential enforcement action afterward in an attempt to improve local compliance rates.
A county release indicated that county officials had been notified that the strike teams would be operating in the county but when and for how long is unknown. County spokeswoman Maia Carroll said county officials were notified about the strike team’s presence on Monday.
On Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that Monterey County, being among dozens of counties on the statewide monitoring list for three days or more, would be subject to additional shutdowns of certain businesses and activities as a result of increased COVID-19 spread, including gyms and fitness centers, places of worship, personal services such as nail salons, hair salons and barbershops, shopping malls, and now even protests. The restrictions take effect immediately.
Last week, Newsom had already ordered the county would join those same counties in shutting back down several businesses including
indoor dining restaurants, bars, breweries and brewpubs, wineries and tasting rooms, museums, zoos, card rooms, movie theaters and other family entertainment centers,
Newsom on Monday also issued a statewide order shutting down those businesses in all counties, regardless of whether they were on the state monitoring list.
The county release indicated the strike team will be “targeting trouble spots to help with enforcement” and noted the fact the county was chosen for a strike team visit “shows the seriousness of the renewed restrictions that the county is now experiencing.” Bars, restaurants and other sectors and facilities that “may be putting employees as well as customers at risk” will be the strike team’s focus, according to the release.
Gov. Gavin Newsom set up the strike team, which includes 10 different agencies, earlier this month in an attempt to help local governments with compliance enforcement as additional business closures were being ordered. The agencies include Alcohol Beverage Control, CalOSHA, California Highway Patrol, Barbering and Cosmetology, Business Oversight, Consumer Affairs, Food and Agriculture, Labor
Commissioner’s Office, and Economic Development.
On Tuesday, Lopez said the state’s “sudden closures (of businesses) are concerning” given the lack of communication between the state and county officials, arguing that local businesses “can’t just turn on a dime” and the state should be providing a “runway” before ordering shutdowns. He also called for the state to provide all orders and guidance in Spanish.
Stemler said she was “very concerned by the lack of strategic communication” from the state, and called for the county board to demand the state improve its communication efforts.
“Getting information in press conferences and Twitter is not communication,” she said. “The public needs to understand the state’s strategy and how these closures impact the spread (of the disease).”
Stemler said many local businesses had already lost confidence in state leadership after having invested so much effort in re-opening only to be closed down again without adequate explanation.
Meanwhile, county Health Officer Dr. Edward Moreno noted the state had issued guidance on the closures, as well as how businesses
could continue with outdoor operations through the use of tents, canopies or other sun shelters provided only one side is closed to avoid creating another indoor situation.
Also Tuesday, Undersheriff John Mineau reported that 14 more County Jail inmates had tested positive for the coronavirus for a total of 88 inmate cases and Sheriff’s officials were working with the State Fire Marshal to allow continued use of part of the jail expansion area to house and test new inmates before they join the general population. Jimenez announced an agreement had been reached with the Central Coast Visiting Nurses Association to provide free pop-up testing sites in areas without access to testing starting at the Castroville library on Wednesdays from 7-11 a.m. and Thursdays from 3-7 p.m. this week.
County health officials reported on Tuesday morning 2,835 total coronavirus cases, an increase of 45, out of 34,722 tests conducted, as well as 185 total hospitalizations, an increase of seven, and 1,595 recoveries, an increase of 107. A total of 18 people have died with the coronavirus in the county.