‘A high bar’ for Fresno County to meet before reopening economy, top official says
After California Gov. Gavin Newsom released guidelines on Thursday to slowly reopen the economy in response to the coronavirus pandemic, Fresno County’s administrative officer said the bar is high and it could be a while before Fresno County meets it.
Newsom on Thursday announced a list of criteria local jurisdictions must meet in order to allow retail stores to conduct curbside pick-up, allow manufacturing with social distancing and other logistics business. Retailers allowed to conduct pick-up and delivery include clothing stores, book stores, florists and sporting goods.
The criteria that will be particularly tough to meet for Fresno County is having no COVID-19 death in the past 14 days, said Jean Rousseau, the county administrative officer. Fresno County last reported a death on Monday.
“That is a very high bar to meet. That’s going to be very difficult to meet anytime soon,” Rousseau said. “The thought of not being able to go to the second part of stage two is troubling.”
Another criterion the governor announced Thursday was that counties need at least 15 contact tracers per 100,000 residents. Rousseau said the county is on track to meet this standard in early June. The Centers for Disease Control explains that in contact tracing, public health staff work with a patient to help them recall everyone with whom they have had close contact during the timeframe while they may have been infectious.
The county also currently falls short in testing capacity. About 700 residents are tested daily at the moment. That number needs to be nearly doubled to meet the governor’s criteria.
Rousseau said the soonest the county will be able to move forward is the middle of next week, or maybe the week after. The public health department is working “feverishly” to complete the certification, he said.
“We know that businesses are champing at the bit to open up, and we really want to help them get there, he said. “So this guidance from the governor is problematic.”
It’s unclear how the governor’s guidelines affect Fresno Mayor Lee Brand’s plan to reopen certain businesses in city limits. Brand announced he will let certain businesses, such as auto dealerships, electronics stores and furniture stores, reopen with restrictions starting Monday.
Brand said he hasn’t any official communication with the county about the governor’s guidelines, but he and his economic recovery committee are moving forward with the plan.
“In the meantime, we are moving ahead with the city’s plan to responsibly restart our local economy, starting with low risk businesses, until Fresno County or the governor informs us in writing that we can’t or persuades us why we shouldn’t,” he said. “We need to get Fresno back to work, and I believe the city’s plan is the right first step in the process and includes the correct safeguards and protections to still slow the spread of COVID-19 and stay focused on the overall health of our community.”
This story was originally published May 7, 2020 at 5:29 PM.