Trinidad ‘overrun’ by mask-less tourists
Fifth District Humboldt County Supervisor Steve Madrone, whose district includes Trinidad, predicted Tuesday that the city will see a coronavirus outbreak because of how many people are coming from out of the area to visit without wearing masks or physically distancing from each other.
“We are being overrun, literally,” Madrone said, “by hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands, of people that are coming into the community from out of the county to recreate. They are not masking, they are not social distancing. They are arrogant. People try to ask them to mask and they get in your face.”
“It’s not one or two people here and there,” Madrone continued. “It is a vast majority.”
The supervisor, speaking at Tuesday’s board of supervisors
meeting, predicted there will be a resulting “major outbreak” of COVID-19 cases in Trinidad, given the behavior he’s witnessed and not enough law enforcement presence.
Sheriff William Honsal responded that the duty belongs to Trinidad, which he said “thrives on the tourism dollar.”
“Having signage up there is probably the right message to do,” Honsal said. “We need to educate people as they’re coming into town.”
Late last week, the county’s hotels were allowed to reopen for tourism. Previously, guests were limited to those traveling in from out of the county for work.
The county has seen seven new cases of the coronavirus in the past 10 days.
Dr. Teresa Frankovich, the county’s health officer, said Tuesday that recent community-transmitted outbreaks of the virus in California are related to “larger social gatherings,” including in churches and bars.
“We certainly know where some of the risk pieces are in terms of this pandemic, and it’s bringing together groups of people who typically do not normally interact,” Frankovich said.
Frankovich also announced Tuesday that the county would switch to a “harm reduction” strategy in reopening businesses during the pandemic.
Since businesses have already reopened without clearance from the county, she said, the health department will meet them where they are — allowing nearly all businesses to run with a reopening plan.
“At this point, it’s likely more important to open safely and do so sooner then planned, and have businesses open ahead of schedule, than without a plan in place,” Frankovich said at the meeting. “I don’t think it’s ideal but it’s our reality right now.”
Among the businesses cleared to reopen with a submitted plan: Gyms and fitness centers; zoos and museums; wineries, breweries and bars; movie theaters and family entertainment centers. Any business can submit a plan online.
Frankovich asked law enforcement’s help in holding businesses accountable for implementing their safety plans.
“While I’m well aware that many businesses who are doing this well — they’re really controlling people the number of people in the facility, really spacing and working to honor the process — there are others who are not,” Frankovich said.