SANTA CRUZ — Short of moving their operations outside, Santa Cruz County malls, gyms, churches and more will be forced to shutter indoor operations by 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, according to county officials, due to rapidly increasing coronavirus cases.
Continuing a trend previously outlined by officials, the county moved on Saturday from one that had been “flagged” for watching by state officials to one of those listed on the state’s county monitoring watch list, according to Santa Cruz County spokesman Jason Hoppin.
On Monday, the California Department of Public Health notified Santa Cruz County, after three consecutive days under state observation, that new orders rolling back indoor commercial operations were pending and would be in effect Tuesday, Hoppin said. The county government confirmed that timeline in press release Tuesday evening.
Santa Cruz County Health Officer Dr. Gail Newel had announced Wednesday that the county had been “flagged” by the state, based on the “dramatically increasing numbers of (COVID-19) cases.” As of Sunday, Santa Cruz County had counted 970 positive COVID-19 cases and four deaths since March, per the state’s latest statistics. More than a third of the total cases — 397 — were reported in the past two weeks, according to state reports.
The state’s response to Santa Cruz County’s rising case numbers appeared to come more rapidly than for neighboring Monterey County, which was placed on the state watch list July 2 and not ordered to close indoor operations until July 8.
“The criteria is that you don’t meet the metrics for two weeks straight, you’re below the 100 case counts per 100,000 (residents) and hospitalizations and everything,” Hoppin said. “If for two weeks you’re OK on those, you’re eligible to come off the list, but it doesn’t mean the state will take you off the list. I would expect it would relatively imminently, but there’s no guarantees.”
Because the county is no longer crafting its own local health orders, it will be subject to state oversight as to when the orders are rescinded — a minimum of 14 days without exponential new coronavirus-positive cases or other triggering factors.
Among the new rollbacks are those aimed at the somewhat nebulous heading of “non-critical” offices. Hoppin said the county will refer to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for guidance on what qualifies as exempt essential critical office infrastructure, a category that generally encompasses the categories of public health, public safety, agriculture, utilities, transportation, government, media, manufacturing, hazardous materials, financial services and other areas.
Retail and existing outdoor restaurant operations will be unaffected by this week’s orders and may continue operating under state guidelines for their respective sectors. Exempt offices are not required to close operations but must continue following state guidance for safe operations. Additional state guideline specifics are available for hair salon operations and personal services online at covid19.ca.gov.
On Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom, during one of his regular live-broadcast COVID-19 broadcasts, acknowledged Santa Cruz County’s addition to its watch list.
“We just included Santa Cruz on the monitoring list, (with) 37 of our 58 counties now on the watch list, as referred to on the monitoring list,” Newsom said. “Those are a cohort of counties that are on that list that are getting the most support in terms of targeted intervention and efforts to mitigate the spread of this disease.”
Newsom was asked by a reporter at what point he might consider uniform statewide standards for reopening, rather than individualized efforts. He said that while most were relying on state health orders, some counties not on the watch list had unique conditions. Newsom highlighted the skyrocketing COVID-19 case counts in the eight-county Central Valley, where he was sending $53 million in funding from the Centers for Disease Control.
“We will get through this. This is not a permanent state,” Newsom said at the end of his briefing Monday. “This is not the rest of our lives. Quite the contrary. We have remarkable capacity to bend this curve again. We did it as a state many, many months ago. We will do it again.”
Newsom cited examples with reduced hospitalization rates statewide, while acknowledging that some parts of the state continue to see increasing hospitalizations and others saw significant drops.
In addition to statewide closures Newsom announced July 13, Santa Cruz County is now required to shut down additional industries and activities — unless they can be modified to operate outside or by pick-up. Those closures include:
• Gyms and fitness centers.
• Places of worship and cultural ceremonies, like weddings and funerals.
• Offices for non-critical infrastructure sectors.
• Personal care services, like nail salons and body waxing.
• Hair salons and barbershops.
• Shopping malls.
Statewide, all counties are required to close indoor operations in these sectors:
• Dine-in restaurants.
• Wineries and tasting rooms.
• Movie theaters.
• Family entertainment centers (for example: bowling alleys, miniature golf, batting cages and arcades.)
• Zoos and museums.
• Cardrooms.
Separately, shops that offer tattoos, piercings and electrolysis may not be operated outdoors and must close.
