Here are Fresno-area leaders’ reactions to Gavin Newsom’s COVID order. They’re skeptical
The possibility that Fresno County and the central San Joaquin Valley could get another stay-at-home order from Gov. Gavin Newsom was met Thursday with a mixture of skepticism and resolve.
Newsom announced the new order will apply in regions where available intensive care unit capacity drops below 15%. Four out of five regions in the state, including the Valley, are on track to hit that threshold early this month.
Newsom’s administration defined the San Joaquin Valley region as Calaveras, Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, San Benito, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tulare, and Tuolumne counties.
Fresno Mayor Lee Brand said he wants residents to voluntarily comply with orders, saying Fresno Police Department will concentrate on its regular responsibilities.
“I have mixed emotions about the governor’s announcement,” he said in a statement. “While it addresses the great need to maintain hospital capacity and allows some essential businesses to remain open, it restricts others — many that are struggling — without a clear path to survival.”
Brand said code enforcement will continue to respond to complaints related to COVID-19 safety regulations with an emphasis on educating business owners who don’t comply.
In the Valley, the measure would be triggered when hospitals across the region dip down to 15% or less of capacity in their intensive-care units. When that happens, some services that have been allowed to be open in Fresno County would face a closure of at least three weeks — including barber shops, hair salons and other personal-care services.
Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims said local law enforcement will not be involved in enforcement, leaving that up to state officials.
“I do not believe we should be using our law enforcement when we are busy with calls for service for illegal activity,” she said. “I just have not seen a lot of good data.”
Once a region falls under the intensive care unit threshold, it will have two days to comply with the order and must follow the new rules for at least three weeks.
Clovis Mayor Drew Bessinger said small businesses and independent contractors have been hit especially hard by the orders, closures and restrictions — while big box stores remain open.
“I understand the ICU bed issue, but we also need to figure in people need to live their lives,” he said. “While I don’t agree with what the governor’s doing, I understand where he’s coming from.”
Clovis Police Department also won’t be involved in enforcing any coronavirus orders from the state, Bessinger said.
“I wouldn’t want to be the governor right now,” he said. “You’re in a no-win situation.”
Many schools in Fresno, Tulare, Kings and Madera counties have been approved for waivers, which allows them to keep students on campus if the county remained in the purple tier, the most restrictive tier under the state’s color-coded “Blueprint for a Safer Economy” measures.
State Sen. Melissa Hurtado, D-Sanger, said people are feeling pandemic fatigue but must pull together to push through it.
“It’s unbelievable that testing access is still haphazard without instantaneous results for everyone,” she said. “It’s unbelievable our families and businesses are being asked to sacrifice without Congress stepping up to make us whole with effective, targeted relief to the states.
“It’s unbelievable that some leaders are still using the pandemic as a political weapon as hospitalizations and deaths increase.”
All playgrounds, indoor recreation, museums, zoos, aquariums, movie theaters, wineries, bars, casinos, live-audience sports and amusement parks must close in regions subject to the order.
Fresno City Council President Miguel Arias said the potential shutdown was a necessary evil, asking residents to stay home as much as possible and to wear a mask when out.
“It is an unfortunate reality for our small businesses but expected given the record infection rates resulting in a limited amount of available ICU beds,” Arias said in a statement. “Our healthcare system is on the brink of breakage and we need everyone to do their part immediately.”
In his Thursday announcement, Newsom acknowledged the challenges faced in particular by the restaurant industry, which has seen an on-again, off-again existence since the spring.
He said the new orders are “predicated on the need to stop gathering with people outside your household” and to keep activities outside. He also reminded people to wear masks and face coverings to slow the spread of the virus.
Fresno County Chamber of Commerce President Nathan Ahle said his organization sent a letter to area elected officials to push for more pandemic relief dollars.
“There has got to be some kind of relief,” he said in a Facebook video. “We don’t want to downplay the severity of the disease but have to recognize the impacts this has on our businesses.”
State Sen. Andreas Borgeas, R-Fresno, said there is no doubt that cases are surging in the state so officials need to prioritize business owners who are struggling.
“If the governor is going to shut down sectors of the economy, then California’s projected surplus must be used to keep businesses afloat and people working,” he said. “Nobody likes this situation we are in, but California leaders need to step up and protect public health and the economy.”
Borgeas announced on Wednesday his intention to introduce the Keep California Working Act, which would invest $2.6 billion — or 10% of California’s projected surplus — in grants for businesses.
The governor’s new order represents a return for many Californians to the isolation they experienced in March, when California was the first state to impose a stay-at-home order. That order directed all Californians to avoid nonessential social contact.
Congressman Tom McClintock, R-Elk Grove, on Thursday mockingly compared Newsom’s handling of the pandemic to the Salem witch trials.
“There’s just one nagging question the governor hasn’t bothered to answer: If these lockdowns are so successful, why do we need to keep having them?” he said.
This story was originally published December 3, 2020 at 5:07 PM.
