COVID-19 vigilance remains necessary as Bay Area reopens

The Bay Area’s success in slowing the spread of the coronavirus reflects residents’ collective, sensible response to public health officers’ shelterin-place orders. The region should take great pride in setting a national model that has saved thousands of lives. But this is no time for complacency. As businesses start reopening, the need for widespread compliance with, and enforcement of, social distancing requirements has never been greater. COVID-19 has not disappeared. We’re dealing with an aggressive and deadly virus that will take full advantage of opportunities to spread. If we relax our standards, we risk a second wave that could be worse than the first. No one wants that. Yet, we continue to witness instances where fundamental safety orders are ignored: • Supermarkets failing to enforce requirements that individuals wear masks while grocery shopping. • Construction workers ignoring rules to stay 6 feet apart during work, coffee breaks and lunch breaks — and failing to don masks when they must get closer. • Delivery drivers and hardware store workers with no face coverings when delivering products to customers. • Beachgoers, partiers and basketball players acting as if social distancing rules were meant for everyone else but them. • Sweaty, maskless runners buzzing past pedestrians with no regard for spacing. This type of behavior could lead to disaster. Santa Clara County Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody is right when she says Gov. Gavin Newsom is moving too fast in reopening California. She is particularly critical of his decision to allow hair salons, barbershops, churches and instore retailers to reopen in many counties. “The state modifications are being made without a real understanding of the consequences of what the last move has been,” she said. Every infected person can rapidly infect others and prompt a new outbreak. Cody wisely urges spacing of changes to see if they spark increases in cases. It can take up to two weeks for a person infected with the coronavirus to begin experiencing symptoms. Beyond continued vigilance by residents, enforcement will be critical. Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick on Thursday became the law enforcement poster child for irresponsibility when he announced that his department would no longer enforce the county’s public health order limiting business activity and civic life. Sonoma County Board Chairwoman Susan Gorin called Essick “tone deaf” and said he “is apparently not concerned about the public health of our community.” We agree. Closer to home, Alameda and Contra Costa counties are using their sheriff’s and city police departments to enforce their rules. The problem is that most people don’t know where to turn when they see problems. In Alameda County, they can make a report at the county’s public health website. Contra Costa County is asking people to call the sheriff’s nonemergency line: 925-646-2441. Santa Clara County provides a good example of how to enforce our current public health laws. Within days after the shelter-in-place order was issued March 16, the District Attorney’s Office agreed to manage enforcement efforts, assigning Assistant DA David Angel to lead a community prosecuting unit of attorneys and paralegals. They created an online form in four different languages for people to report COVID-19 shelter-in-place violations. Angel said they have received more than 7,000 reports in the last 10 weeks and that the process is working. “We’re finding that a collaborative, educational approach works well,” he said. “But the most effective tool of all is for people to willingly comply on their own.” We couldn’t agree more. The safest way for the Bay Area to reopen is through a gradual process driven by data and widespread compliance. It’s the best way possible to prevent a devastating second wave of infections that costs lives and further damages the economy.