Shutdown worries in San Mateo County

While San Mateo County has yet to be placed on California’s coronavirus watch list, beauty salons, houses of worship and other indoor businesses are trying to hang onto a small sense of normalcy, despite a potential countywide shutdown looming.

As of Saturday, San Mateo remained the only Bay Area county not on the state’s watch list of places struggling to contain the coronavirus spread. But that could change soon, which would cause the automatic closure of many indoor businesses, as well as distance learning for schools. “Having a second closure is going to hurt. If the governor tells us to shut down, is he going to pay my commercial rent? Do they want me to declare bankruptcy? I’m going to lose my business. I’m going to lose my shop,” said Jose Rodriguez, owner of J. Vincent Hair Loft in Redwood City. “It messes me up. I worked hard to get where I’m at. And having it just go away, it’s very painful.”

Rodriguez said his financial struggles began in March when he shut down his downtown salon following the first shelterinplace order. He reopened on June 22, as did Reconnect Hair Design in Burlingame. At Reconnect, Melissa Macarai, who works as a hair stylist and receptionist, said several employees had to file for unemployment during the closure.

“It’s our livelihood, and we can’t make it unless we are making money,” she said. “It’s getting so defeating and so discouraging. The worst part is the uncertainty, the unpredictability.”

Macarai said her business has numerous safety protocols in place, including customers having their temperature taken; everyone having to wear a mask; and customers shampooing their hair at home before coming to the salon. But the efforts won’t be able to forestall a closure.

At St. Bruno’s Catholic Church in San Bruno, the church’s executive secretary, Roger Tellez, said a potential shutdown has spurred the church to plan alternative settings for services. As of now, the church is continuing to host service indoors, but Tellez said tents and covered areas are going to be placed outside of the building so the community can still worship if the state orders a renewed shutdown.

“It’s happening all around us right now so it would be crazy not think it’s going to happen here,” he said.

The state criteria to determine whether a county needs to be placed on the watch list include the number of coronavirus cases, number of tests performed, rate of positive results, a rise in hospitalizations, available ICU beds and available ventilators. Counties are placed on the list if they trend poorly in at least one area for three consecutive days. San Francisco was added to the list on Friday.

As of Friday, San Mateo County had just 13% of acutecare beds and 16% of ICU beds available, though it has the capacity to add more beds in the event of a surge.

“We’re not on the watch list now, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we were added early next week,” Supervisor David Canepa told The Chronicle on Saturday.

The coronavirus continues to spread rapidly across the area. On Saturday, Alameda County reported 161 new cases, Contra Costa County 130, Santa

Clara County 169 and San Mateo 58. Not all counties report numbers on weekends.

In a statement to The Chronicle on Saturday, Louise Rogers, chief of San Mateo County Health, said the county’s infection rate would probably have it on the list soon. “Like many other counties, we are concerned about being put on the COVID19 monitoring list by the state. It impacts our community significantly from economically to mental health challenges,” Rogers said. “If we are put on the monitoring list, we are prepared to rapidly distribute this information into the community to allow residents and businesses to dial back activities the state will limit as they have for other counties.”