Will Yumans still beat heat in San Diego?

Both areas have COVID issues, but California has more restrictions

When it comes to beating Yuma’s heat, many Yumans simply get in the car and drive to San Diego for a little beach escape.

These days, however, San Diego looks a little different.

Due to a spike in COVID-19 cases, California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered a new round of restrictions.

Indoor operations are closed for dine-in restaurants, wineries, tasting rooms, movie theaters, family entertainment centers, zoos and museums and cardrooms, although restaurants can provide outdoor meal service or to-go meals.

Additionally, bars, brewpubs, breweries and pubs are also closed, both indoor and outdoor, unless they offer sitdown, outdoor dine-in meals. Alcoholic beverages can only be served with a meal.

Those orders are statewide. And because San Diego County remained on the state’s monitoring list for three consecutive days, the county also had to close fitness centers, worship services, protests, offices for non-essential sectors, personal care services (nail salons, body waxing and tattoo parlors), hair salons, barber shops, and malls.

According to the San Diego Union Tribune on Monday, “The 14-day rolling average of the percentage of positive cases has been climbing since mid-June, and is back up around 6%.”

The county’s number of positive test results is over the state’s trigger threshold of 100 cases per 100,000 residents, measured by a 14-day average. On Monday, that rate was 137 per 100,000, the Union Tribune reported.

However, San Diego County beaches and the boardwalks remain open.

There’s a lot going on there, readers. The state is fighting to bring COVID-19 under control, and that means a lot of restrictions are in place.

In Yuma County, our case counts are still spiking. And while there are restrictions in place in Yuma County and in Arizona, the measures taken here pale in comparison to those taken in San Diego.

Yumans for decades have gone to San Diego to beat the heat. And right now, both areas are still struggling with COVID-19 cases.

But here’s the question. Will these factors dissuade people from traveling from Yuma to San Diego right now?

What do you think, readers? Will you stay or will you go? Let us know. Share your thoughts online at www.YumaSun.com, or send in a Letter to the Editor at letters@yumasun.com.

Unsigned editorials represent the viewpoint of this newspaper rather than an individual. Columns and letters to the editor represent the viewpoints of the persons writing them and do not necessarily represent the views of the Yuma Sun.