Monterey Co.: Under stricter restrictions because it’s on watch list
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday ordered indoor church services, shopping malls, gyms, barbershops and nail salons to close back down in 30 counties including Monterey County that have been on the state’s monitoring list for three or more days.
Newsom made the announcement during a news conference on Monday, making the action effective immediately, as the numbers of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths continue to rise statewide.
County Health Officer Dr. Edward Moreno did not immediately respond to Gov. Newsom’s new order, although he has in the past indicated he would wait for a formal written order from the state before responding.
County spokeswoman Maia Carroll said, “This is a state health order. We are working to get details about the changes to businesses and residents.”
The latest order comes less than a week after Moreno ordered a range of local businesses including indoor dining restaurants, bars, wineries, breweries, indoor museums, zoos, and movie
theaters and other family entertainment venues to close back down in the county as a result of exceeding key state COVID-19 indicators, following Gov. Newsom’s announcement via Twitter a week ago.
Newsom’s latest order dictates that indoor dining, bars, and the like must shut back down statewide.
A state Department of Public Health report showed on Monday that the county is still exceeding three key state metrics, including case rate per 100,000 population (146.2, well above the state limit of 100), testing positivity average over the past week (8.8%, above the state limit of 8%), and three-day increase in average hospitalizations (18.3%, above the state limit of 10%).
The county was placed on the state’s watch list just before the Fourth of July holiday weekend for exceeding those metrics indicating an accelerated spread of the virus.
The state now has more than 326,000 cases and more than 7,000 deaths with the novel coronavirus as of Monday.
During a county briefing Monday, Chief Deputy John Thornburg reported that seven more county jail inmates and a staff member had tested positive for COVID-19 and one inmate had been sent to Natividad late Monday morning. The eight new cases emerged from testing about 115 inmates and 41 jail staff over the weekend, according to Thornburg, and all but one case were from the same housing unit where an outbreak occurred last week.
That means a total of 74 inmates have tested positive out of about 250 tests conducted since the jail’s first positive case was identified before surgery at Natividad a week ago, and Thornburg said several have shown symptoms but not serious enough to be hospitalized with the single exception.
Thornburg said a total of 34 inmates were released last weekend, including 16 with permission from court officials and 18 more by Sheriff Steve Bernal under his own authority. He said the released inmates were generally older with underlying health conditions that make them more vulnerable to the virus — similar to the criteria used during earlier inmate releases during the spring. Some of the newly released inmates tested positive, Thornburg said, though he added he didn’t know how many or where they went. No inmate with a felony, violent misdemeanor or domestic violence charge is considered for release, Thornburg said. Additional releases may be considered in the future, he added.
All jail inmates and staff will now be tested for the virus, a total of about 900 people including about 700 inmates, Thornburg said. All inmates testing positive will be quarantined in the same jail housing unit. He said jail officials still don’t know how the virus got into the facility.
Thornburg said the jail is being sanitized by a professional firm, and everyone entering the jail is already subject to screening for the virus, including temperature checks. All new arrivals will be sent to a newly opened 72-cell section of the jail expansion area and tested before being released into the general population, he said.
County health officials reported on Monday morning a total of 2,790 local coronavirus cases, an increase of 108, out of 33,898 tests conducted for an 8.23% overall positivity rate. A total of 178 people have been hospitalized with the virus, an increase of three, according to the report.