Jason Hoppin
On Friday, May 15, Santa Cruz County Public Information Officer Jason Hoppin send out a press release detailing the county’s progress in preparing for the next stage in opening businesses to the community.
Santa Cruz recently entered “early Stage 2” of California’s “Resilience Roadmap,” meaning businesses offering “non-essential retail” may begin providing curbside pickup, meaning customers either have to know what they want before they arrive, or pre-order online and have it ready for pickup. Such retailers are not allowed to let customers linger and must maintain social distancing and other mandated requirements
Other businesses that have begun operating again include construction and golf courses.
The county is also hopeful that current progress will lead to Santa Cruz moving into “late Stage 2” of the roadmap, which the county will have to apply for permission to implement.
Read the full press release below:
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ADVISORY ON LOCAL BUSINESS AND OTHER ACTIVITIES
The County of Santa Cruz would like to thank local businesses for complying with State and local Shelter-in-Place orders to help protect the health and safety of the community.
An example of how curbside pickup can work.
With Santa Cruz County in early Stage 2 of the State’s Resilience Roadmap, non-essential retail business may offer curbside pickup only, such as bookstores, jewelry stores, toy stores, clothing and shoe stores, home and furnishing stores, sporting goods stores and florists. Non-essential retailers must follow social distancing requirements during pickup and may not offer curbside inventory for browsing or otherwise encourage customers to linger. Manufacturing and logistics sectors that support retail may also operate as long as they comply with social distancing requirements and other relevant Health Officer orders.
Essential retailers may still offer in-store shopping as long as they follow and post guidelines included in Appendix A of the Health Officer’s April 29 order, available in English or Spanish. These types of retailers include medical goods and supplies, grocery stores, pharmacies, convenience stores, animal/pet food stores, gas stations, hardware and building materials stores, and consumer electronics and appliance stores.
Construction sites and related activities are allowed to open and must comply with Appendix B of the April 29 order, available in English or Spanish. Golf courses must also comply with Appendix C of the April 29 order, available in English or Spanish.
Restaurants remain open for pickup only. No dine-in or outdoor seating of any kind is allowed until the County is allowed to proceed into late Stage 2 of the State’s Resilience Roadmap. For restaurants anticipating a return to limited dine-in services, the State recently released guidance on safe operations, available here.
The County is closely monitoring local indicators such as case counts, testing capacity and personal protective equipment availability to determine whether it can apply for a variance allowing the County to move into later Stage 2.
The County intends to work closely with Community Foundation Santa Cruz County and the newly formed Economic Recovery Council to move toward a safe, phased and enduring reopening of the local economy. Businesses and residents that do not comply with existing Shelter-in-Place orders are likely to inhibit the County’s ability to meet variance criteria and move forward.
Stage 3 and Stage 4 businesses and operations, such as hair and nail salons, movie theaters, religious services, sporting events and other large gatherings, are not included in the variance process at this time and remain closed throughout California.
In deciding whether to allow activities to resume, counties may not be more permissive than State rules.
As a reminder, beaches remain closed from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. Residents may traverse sand to participate in water sports in the ocean, which remains open during these hours. Outside these hours, the beach is open for recreation only, and residents are encouraged to practice physical distancing.
While the April 29 order is indefinite, the Health Officer is monitoring the community and will review the order on an ongoing basis for needed changes, including whether to safely allow certain activities to resume. An FAQ on the order is available at santacruzcounty.us/ShelterinPlaceFAQ.aspx.
For local information on COVID-19, go to www.santacruzhealth.org/coronavirus, call 211 or text “COVID19” to 211211. Residents may also call (831) 454-4242 between the hours of 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., seven days a week.