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Less than a day after hair salons and gyms reopened in Santa Clara County, the county’s Public Health Department announced those businesses, among other sectors, will have to reclose by this Wednesday, July 15, effectively scrapping its July 2 health order.
The reversal of the county order also comes with closures of additional indoor sectors: Worship services, offices of nonessential businesses, personal care services such as nail salons, body waxing and tattoo parlors, and protests will have to shut down on July 15.
The Monday afternoon announcement follows sweeping statewide rollbacks Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled during a press conference just hours earlier, closing indoor operations of restaurants, wineries, zoos, museums and movie theaters, among other businesses. This would not have had any impact on Santa Clara County since it had not permitted indoor operations of most of these businesses.
But in addition to the statewide closures that immediately went into effect on July 13, Newsom said all counties that are on the state Public Health Department’s monitoring list for three consecutive days, which included 30 counties at the time of the conference, will also have to suspend indoor operations of gyms, worships services, malls and offices of “non-critical sectors,” as well as hair salons and other personal care services. (Under the health department’s criteria, the monitoring list includes counties most impacted by the coronavirus.)
According to the county announcement, Santa Clara County was added back to the monitoring list on Sunday. The California Public Health Department’s website states the county is experiencing more hospitalizations for reasons that “may include” increased community transmission; patient transfers from outside the county; patient transfers from long-term care facilities; or transmission from individuals of neighboring counties who seek health care in Santa Clara County. Unless the region is removed from the list by Tuesday, it will have to move forward with the new closures.
“In light of the governor’s announcement, the county sought clarification on the effect of today’s announcement in our county,” the press release states.
“The state confirmed this afternoon that it will require sectors closed for indoor operations in counties on the monitoring list to close in Santa Clara County effective Wednesday, July 15, 2020 at 12:01 a.m.,” referring to gyms and hair salons, among other businesses.
Find comprehensive coverage on the Midpeninsula’s response to the new coronavirus by Palo Alto Online, the Mountain View Voice and the Almanac here.
Just read a piece in the Sacramento Bee that attributes disease spread to lack of mask wearing to and bars, family and friend (group) inside gatherings.
Ok – so solution is to close hair salons
Oh, I see protests are now “closed,” too. Will that be enforced? Or will only businesses be made to follow this new order?
I bet Sara Cody is smiling tonight.
Something strange in the way this was done. Governor had all weekend to prepare his noon speech. He didn’t put Santa Clara County on the watch list. What happened between then and 4 pm?
We are at the mercy of the leadership who simply can’t get their act together. Nothing new here, move along.
This is ridiculous. The 7-day average number of Covid deaths in the county has remained under 1 per day for the last two months. That’s less than 1 per day in a population of 2 million! And everyone knows the tabulated number of “cases” is meaningless. We were supposed to shut businesses down until we “flattened the curve” so as not to overwhelm the hospitals. We’ve done that. But now the goal is evidently 0 deaths and 0 cases, which we’ll never achieve.
@lloyd lee – can you please find out exactly why Santa Clara county is back on the watch list? If it’s because of transfers of sick patients into our hospitals from other counties, why are our residents and businesses being penalized?
The state’s website isn’t very helpful.
It says: Santa Clara County (has variance) is experiencing increased hospitalization. Drivers of increased hospitalization of COVID+ patients may include: 1) increased transmission in the community; 2) patient transfers from outside the county; 3) patient transfers from long term care facilities; 4) /or increased transmission among residents or individuals from neighboring counties who seek care in hospitals in Santa Clara County. Although the percentage change in hospitalizations shows an increase, the increase in the absolute number of patients hospitalized is still low relative to the size of the population in Santa Clara County and is low relative to the number of hospital beds available in the County.
The order refers to “Indoor Operations,” so I assume that means the County is only banning indoor protests.
There were plenty of sanctioned outdoor protests in June.
It’s the liberals trying to ruin the economy so Trump won’t get re-elected. Did you know that a “case” of COVID doesn’t mean it’s a positive testing of COVID? Someone with a cough can be called a “COVID case”.
They are not actually closing Santa Clara, they are slowing down the reopening. I sure hope that the main factor is not hospital transfers from other hot spots in the state though, the positivity rate in Santa Clara continues to be under 3%, which is great. But look at Marin, great numbers during the whole pandemic and now their huge escalation of cases is due to prisoner transfers from Chico…
Counties need reassurance that the good behavior of their residents actually makes a difference also in reopening, and we see some disconnects there, otherwise people might start to not give a damn.
In general residents of Santa Clara have been very careful, but there is also room for improvement as well. I personally think that we let our guard down a bit too soon, hopefully this will just be a 2 week readjustment and then we can move on. If folks distance, wear masks, avoid gatherings, this can be kept in check, we stopped doing done in some instances (youths). And sorry, but bars need to stay closed long term, either that or everything has to close down. Hopefully this gives us a better chance to reopen schools in a month…
@Moderate is right. They have been over counting for months by including people’s families and friends as ‘positive’, without any proof or evidence. They just want to hurt the re-election so are making up problems for the economy to hurt the President without any proof or evidence.
They say the spreading of the virus has been done because of family gatherings connected to holidays, graduations, etc. So they stop us getting haircuts! Where is the logic. Has there been evidence that people have got Covid from getting haircuts? Why punish the salons and barbers as well as the customers because people have been having family gatherings? This makes no sense.
They have been bringing patients from Imperial County to SC hospitals so obviously the number of cases and hospitalizations have increased here, so we are being punished for that?
They are going to release prisoners, what will that do to our numbers? Will they close something else to punish us for these prisoner releases?
The public are getting tired of being punished for this. Those who work in these sectors need to be able to work!
Very soon there won’t be any businesses left to reopen.
They are shutting everything down again because they want to get people so desperate to have their lives back they will willingly give into Operation Warp Speed’s vaccine and tracing. They want everyone to vote for Universal Basic Income, and probably plan to nationalize the big companies. That is the agenda.
Posted by Small Business Owner, a resident of Adobe-Meadow
>> […] They want everyone to vote for Universal Basic Income, and probably plan to nationalize the big companies. That is the agenda.
Please broaden your sources of news. You are not getting the facts.
@ Resident DTN
>> I sure hope that the main factor is not hospital transfers from other hot spots in the state though, […] Marin, great numbers during the whole pandemic and now their huge escalation of cases is due to prisoner transfers from Chico…
I’m concerned about this also. Their algorithm doesn’t seem to be taking hospital transfers into account, and, the data isn’t really being presented well to the public. I think this is something that the Health authorities need to track and fix quickly.
I hope this disaster
Ends Newsom’s political career.
Open up hair salons. I can go to costco but not get a hair cut. Makes no sense.
As of July 14, 2020, 8:40am The State’s order does NOT list Santa Clara or San Mateo counties among the 30 on the County Monitoring List. See https://covid19.ca.gov/roadmap-counties/
So why is Santa Clara County shutting down hair salons, barbershops, etc?
@Beware the Camel’s Nose
Thanks for your comment. I understand the confusion. The list on your link only refers to counties that have been on the monitoring list for 3 consecutive days. As mentioned in the article, Santa Clara County was only added to the list on Sunday, July 12 — hence the July 15 date to reclose hair salons and other businesses.
Lloyd
I am very curious as to how Santa Clara County was a late addition to the latest state rollback list. As we are making decisions based on “the science” then it doesn’t justify the absolute reckless way we are treating our local businesses. If the 4 month lockup wasn’t enough to close them down, the recent start stop mandates surely will. Since our elected SCC leaders seem to be deferring very important decisions to our unelected county health administrator; who strongly believes “nothing will change until we get a vaccine”, I assume she probably felt left out and argued for SCC to be added last minute. But in the absence of facts, just guessing..
Posted by merry, a resident of Palo Alto Hills
>> I hope this disaster Ends Newsom’s political career.
Because re-opening has gone so well in Florida, Arizona, Louisiana, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Texas?
>> Open up hair salons. I can go to costco but not get a hair cut. Makes no sense.
How do you know that? https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/07/08/burst/aerosols-coronavirus.html
We all need to realize that in order to get the infection rate to go down instead of up, some optional activities have to be curtailed so that we can continue to live with mandatory and semi-mandatory activities. A haircut may be one of your favorite activities, but, you have to eat first.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/13/opinion/coronavirus-schools-bars.html
Some combination of mid/low-priority activities with too much infection potential have to be reduced. Nobody wants this, but, the virus doesn’t care. It just reproduces and transmits.
Policies are driven by the lowest common denominator… you can’t govern by granting exceptions to those of us who act responsibly or live in less affected areas. Since there’s no efficient way to enforce compliance, broad sweeping strokes are the only way to go. It’s unfortunate for those of acting responsibly, but the pandemic does not discriminate. If you only shut down hair salons and barber shops in the affected areas, the folks in those areas will travel to the areas where they’re open, exacerbating the problem. Comparing outdoor protests or popping into Costco for 15 minutes to buy toilet paper with prolonged indoor contact in more confined areas is naive. We’re all in this together, folks. Buckle up and ride it out. We’re bearing the brunt of our inept federal leaders who are stoking the flames of ignorance and killing off many of the folks who elected them. You want things to change? Vote.
Closing everything down is ridiculous. 99% of us are being punished for the 1% who are affected. 90% of cases are mild. Those who are dying have underlying health issues. The mental well being is just as important (if not more important) than physical health. Let those of us who are in excellent health get back to normal, and let everyone else stay home. If this keeps up there will be more financial ruin, and mental health problems including agoraphobia. Just what we need. People afraid to leave the house when we’re finally allowed to. Unbelievable.
Let’s talk about how this is affecting small businesses and people in lower economic strata.
I really don’t care if I can get my hair cut. But, I do care very much about these small businesses and people. The government has mandated that shut down their livelihoods. What about their dreams and life savings. Let’s put some emphasis on getting people back to work, and thinking about safe ways to open these shops. If you have a serious co-morbidity, then stay home and shelter. Don’t ruin the lives of other people.
Maybe the county should bar people from other counties from coming in. Wouldn’t that be productive? Actually this really points out that the State has lost its way. This is the County that has led the way to recovery and now the small businesses must suffer.
Why is it that I can have a housecleaner in my house for 3 hours but can’t get a 15 minute haircut? I originally thought that the State was doing a good job in managing this crisis, but now I’m having second thoughts. What department in the State is actually calling the shots?
If you are a small business in SCC, who dutifully waited four months to reopen, if you had not already gone out of business after four months because your business was crushed, and then spent last week meeting all the necessary requirements to reopen with strict safety protocols (that many other businesses don’t have), then opened Monday, and then one day later (today) the county said you had to close again, I would support you if you ignored the shutdown. We are crushing people’s liviloods in this county. This has to stop. People can open smartly. Open close open close open close. Who can even keep up, no one knows what’s going on, and nothing makes sense. It’s ridiculous. Just move on people. I support you!
I am saddened and amazed by the large number of presumably intelligent well intentioned people that think they know more than healthcare experts. We are blessed to have Dr. Cody. Talk of “punishment”, “fairness” and misplaced anger towards leaders demonstrate immaturity and selfishness. We should all be trying to learn and understand, thinking critically but not attacking. I would not be troubled but it is these attitudes and failure to be civil and look out for the greater good that has our very rich and well resourced country handling this crisis worse than any other in the world. This, and our national Republican leaders criminal negligence promoting divisiveness, scapegoating and lies, is most disturbing.
>>> […] They want everyone to vote for Universal Basic Income, and probably plan to nationalize the big companies. That is the agenda.
>>Please broaden your sources of news. You are not getting the facts. <<<
@Anon – What, “Small Business Owner” cannot post an opinion?
Personally, I agree with Small Business Owner. If you look at actual statistics and take into account the increase in testing, plus the CDC’s change in the definition of “case” (a COVID “case” is no longer just a lab-confirmed case; the threshold is much, much lower – please go read the FAQs on the CDC website for yourself) OF COURSE we have a “second wave” of “cases.” This is just what our government and the media want us to believe so that they can justify the measures initially taken in response to the pandemic. They need to justify their actions to maintain their jobs and ensure re-election.
Do I believe that COVID is a disease that we need to take seriously? Yes, and we should protect the most vulnerable population. Do I believe it is as bad as the media and government reports? No, and we should protect our civil liberties and our economy for the well-being of all Americans.
Read the actual statistics and ask questions. We are smarter than this.
“the only thing we have to fear is…fear itself”
I don’t understand why there’s such a focus on cases if 99 percent of people recover. It seems like they just want to make a headline out of it. But 99 PERCENT RECOVER this can’t be stated enough!!
I don’t want to believe it, but it seems like powerful media entities and Soros-funded initiatives are deliberately trying to craft a narrative for political reasons, and if it means destroying the economy and turning us into a 3rd world country than so be it. Progressivism requires its sacrificial lambs.
Jean,
Please stop spreading your misinformation. The rapidly rising cases in SCC are caused by the irresponsible behavior of average people who are not taking the pandemic seriously enough. A month ago, SCC had brought the new cases to a low level. As things opened up, the number of new cases this month has exploded. People who think like you and spread misinformation are causing the rest of us to have to stay home longer. Behave responsibly, follow the rules, and bring the pandemic under control. The US is lagging behind almost all of the developed world because of the irresponsible behavior of its citizens.
Posted by Resident, a resident of Midtown
>> I don’t understand why there’s such a focus on cases if 99 percent of people recover.
Out of 400,000 confirmed cases in New York, 25,000 *confirmed* https://covid19tracker.health.ny.gov/views/NYS-COVID19-Tracker/NYSDOHCOVID-19Tracker-Fatalities?%3Aembed=yes&%3Atoolbar=no&%3Atabs=n have died (so far), with an additional estimated 7,000 deaths likely. https://91-divoc.com/pages/covid-visualization/ That is 6% (or 8%), not 1%. “Flip a coin. Then play Russian roulette. Comfortable with that?”
If you happen to be over age 65, as we seniors happen to be, the odds are a lot worse.
This is a big country. Blaming Federal leaders for the problems in some states while others remain almost untouched seems ridiculous. Why impose say a mandatory mask order or other restrictions on places where there are no cases whatsoever makes no sense.
Likewise, California is a big state. Why make rules for the whole state when there are some counties that have few if any cases. It makes no sense.
Why make differences between counties that are right beside each other in the Bay Area? Why make differences between counties right beside each other in the LA basin?
If San Mateo has haircuts going on, of course those of us in Santa Clara will drive there to get a haircut.
But yes, punishing residents of one county which is importing cases from another area and bringing up the numbers is unfair. Yes, punishing those who work in the hair industry for people going to family parties is unfair.
We are not being treated by our elected and non-elected officials as anything other than pawns to further their careers. We can behave responsibly and get a haircut as has been proven in the areas where haircuts have been going on. Unless there are several confirmed cases from getting haircuts, it is ridiculous to think that closing down hair salons and barbershops are going to reduce the number of cases.
I personally would feel a lot safer working in a hair salon than I would in working in Costco for 8 hours each day. Think about the employees who have to work, they are working and paying their taxes which means that the government has money to pay their politicians. Think it through, all of those working at present and paying taxes are enabling the politicians to keep being paid their salaries. Yes, anybody working now should be called essential. That is, anybody working apart from the politicians. I really don’t think the politicians are essential to anything any more.
Force them to forego their salaries, they might then think with some common sense.
Based on the data provided in the county monitoring chart, the only metric not meeting the state threshold In SCC is for the 3-day average increase in COVID hospitalizations of less than 10%. SCC is listed at 15.8%. But if this is mostly due to transfers from other counties, forcing our businesses to shut down seems to be an unfair punishment.
Posted by Resident, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
>> If San Mateo has haircuts going on, of course those of us in Santa Clara will drive there to get a haircut.
How about another option, like, if there is someone else in your family bubble, trade haircuts. Or, use a mirror– nobody can see you that well on Zoom anyway.
This latest “order” is nonsensical and will likely be ignored by the majority of the population. Government is losing its credibility when it opens businesses for two days and demand they close again. Anyone who wants a haircut can cross one of a dozen pedestrian or car bridges into Menlo Park, where haircut businesses have been open for about a month. Palo Alto businesses CANNOT pack up and move across the creek, they are the ones truly suffering.
Government has failed.
This is what happens when the voting sheep, drunk on identity politics, sends an incompetent radical to Sacramento. The entire state of California desperately needs adult supervision.
PST’s comment above begins:
“I am saddened and amazed by the large number of presumably intelligent well intentioned people that think they know more than healthcare experts…”
chris’ comment begins:
“Please stop spreading your misinformation. The rapidly rising cases in SCC are caused by the irresponsible behavior of average people who are not taking the pandemic seriously enough…”
These are the only comments I noticed that I agree with. We need more reasonable people to comment here to show that we, as a community, are willing to do the work to save lives and eventually return to a more normal life, like the rest of the world has done.
Why do most of the comments above smack of entitlement, American exceptionalism, and immaturity? Let’s do what our health experts and scientists say. Stop with the whining and irresponsible ideas! I’m embarrassed.
It was the protestors that caused this spike in the Wuhan Flu. How are they going to enforce that?
Keep these punks off of our highways and streets and stop painting stupid slogans in the middle of the street.
I disagree that “most of the comments above smack of entitlement.” People need to WORK for a living. What part of EARNING a living don’t you understand? People need to get haircuts to look presentable. Nobody is talking entitlement. They’re referring to living normally, which we should be doing. The stats don’t warrant what we’re going through. If everybody was retired, then staying home might make sense, but even then it’s still mentally unhealthy. Most people WORK. That’s reality. People that think (at this point) that we should all stay sheltered are paranoid worrywarts. Turn off the news. Read a small amount online to stay informed. This is a virus, not the black plague.
This county is run by a bunch of irresponsible unelected officials who have unlimited powers for an unlimited period of time and the electorate has no recourse. Here’s hoping that in the end there will be legal challenges that limit the powers of unelected officials.
In November, remember which party did this to you.
In the meantime, my money will continue to go out of the county.
There are so many self-righteous people here who think that somehow the virus can be just stopped and are desperate to blame someone else for nature doing its thing. You are the same ones who would blame people without umbrellas for a tidal wave.
You people are all engaging in magical thinking about masks and are massively arrogant for believing that humanity’s technology is anywhere near a point that we can stop viral infections from spreading. You act like this is the very first risk people have ever encountered in their lives.
The destruction caused by the insane response to this virus ranges from child abuse, to criminal violence, to suicide and mental illness, to ruined livelihoods. You lockdown lovers directly bear the guilt.
+10
Stop being cowed by politicians and journalists!
Based on the comments here, we may be in for a bleak fall and winter.
The typical commenters here seem to think that the citizens of SCC do not need to concerned about the spiraling number of cases and that they can keep on mingling without masks. The reason for the spiraling is that people have been mingling without masks for the last month.
The attitudes of Gus, Jennifer, resident, and Enough are prevalent enough to create a surge more severe than what we saw earlier.
Why did the Virus cases rise a couple weeks after all of the protests happened? Numbers were dropping until the No Social Distancing Protestors stormed the country Looting and rioting.
PST- we took leave of science when it was decided that virus transmission was suspended for protests and looting. Once the “health experts” gave that a hand wave in the name of political correctness, science was tossed out and emotion and gut feel will rule the day.
Exactly, Sir Topham.
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-monday-edition-1.5603024/over-1-000-health-experts-sign-letter-supporting-anti-black-racism-protests-despite-covid-19-risks-1.5603025
“Racism and Oppression is a Public Health Issue”
Now these same “experts” are telling us if only 100 percent of the population will wear masks, we can stop the virus dead in its tracks!
Just having an MD alone doesn’t make you a legit doctor. Every “health expert” who signed that letter has thrown away every last inch of their credibility. It’s like the psychiatrist who misdiagnoses a patient and then prescribes the wrong medication — which happens more often than not. So much for trusting the “experts”. Let’s just blindly believe everything they say.
There is inherent risk in everyday living. The “hide under the bed” mentality is cringeworthy. And, yes – I’ve been playing by the rules since day one. I’m doing my part to stop the spread, even though I disagree with the severe lockdown.
The costs of the Shelter in Place is more than just economic.
The numbers of overdoses have increased (some resulting in death but not all), alcoholism, domestic abuse, child abuse, depression, and people are really suffering emotionally as well as the financial costs and the numbers of people who are unable to afford to pay for food, etc. Not only are these reclosures bad for the businesses, but they are really bad for our mental health.
Being able to work out at the gym (even without cardio), get a decent haircut, or a mani-pedi, for some is a great morale booster, particularly for those who live alone and don’t have family close.
Many people are suffering silently, struggling with the will to get out of bed or prepare something to eat other than grab a bag of snacks.
I don’t think there have been any reports of people getting the virus from a haircut. The reports are all from people going to parties, mixing at bars with friends, not from socially distanced businesses. In fact, if someone can get to the gym or go get a haircut, they will feel much better about then about obeying other rules, in some cases.
Serious question: What are the mechanics of recalling SARA CODY?
Update July 15 – San Mateo County just announced that 40% of the people hospitalized in San Mateo County are from outside the county… Still haven’t seen any news on Santa Clara County. https://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2020/05/21/coronavirus-central-santa-clara-countys-total-of-cases-nears-2500
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