More Tulare County businesses can now reopen with state approval. Here’s why
The California Department of Public Health approved Tulare County’s petition to move forward in reopening.
Retail stores and dine-in restaurants will be allowed to reopen, with some modifications. Barbershops and hair salons can also reopen.
Tulare was the last San Joaquin Valley county allowed to move further into stage 2 of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to reopen the state amid the coronavirus pandemic.
According to Tulare Health Department spokesperson Carrie Monteiro, counties had to pass eight tests, which Newsom had recently relaxed, to move further into reopening. She said Tulare struggled with three of those metrics last week, which they now meet.
One was to have under 8% of the population test positive for COVID-19 over two weeks. With increased testing capacity at two new sites in Dinuba and Porterville, the county reached a 7.8% positive test rate.
“They do not have to be showing symptoms or have insurance or a doctor’s note,” she said. “We are encouraging anybody who may be returning to work or for peace of mind, we are encouraging them to go online and get an appointment to get tested.”
The county also secured a 14-day supply of personal protective equipment for their skilled nursing facilities, which they did not have last week.
The third criteria they previously failed to meet was having at least 15 contact tracers, who track the spread of the virus, per 100,000 residents. To reach that threshold, the county reshuffled and trained some staff members.
County reopened before state approval
The Tulare County Board of Supervisors had already voted to reopen the county on May 19. The 3-2 decision allowed dine-in restaurants, churches, barbers, movie theaters and shopping malls to open.
“It was not an encouragement to reopen, but it was a pulling back of any kind of enforcement activity against businesses who chose to reopen,” said Tammie Weyker-Adkins, chief of staff and public information officer for the Tulare County Board of Supervisors.
But not all of them did, as businesses regulated by the state, like barbershops, risked losing their licenses.
“From my understanding, state-licensed and regulated businesses have elected not to reopen,” she said. “There have been some businesses that have chosen to reopen at a very careful, lower level based on the state guidelines.”
As a result of that vote, the state Office of Emergency Services sent the board of supervisors a letter warning that the decision could “jeopardize its disaster funding,” including $47 million in federal CARES Act funds.
Weyker-Adkins said the county has made contact with Cal OES and planned to discuss the letter at next Tuesday’s board meeting.
Tulare County reached 1,835 coronavirus cases on Thursday, with 80 deaths.
More than 100,000 people have died from COVID-19 nationally, which includes more than 3,800 Californians.
This story was originally published May 27, 2020 at 6:02 PM.