Cupertino Coronavirus Response Update For October 7, 2020

Press release from the City of Cupertino:

October 7, 2020

Please see today's COVID-19 report at www.cupertino.org/coronavirus.

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Executive Summary of the Revised Risk Reduction Order Issued October 5, 2020

The Revised Risk Reduction Order, which will go into effect when the County moves into Tier 3 (the Orange Tier) under the State’s “Blueprint for a Safer Economy,” generally allows all businesses in the County to operate if the State allows them to be open. Under the Revised Risk Reduction Order, many additional activities and business operations can resume, including indoor dining and indoor gatherings. Importantly, this does not mean that the Health Officer considers all open activities to be safe. COVID-19 continues to pose a severe risk to residents of Santa Clara County, and the Health Officer urges residents to continue taking precautions, including staying home when possible, minimizing interaction with people outside one’s household, maintaining social distance, wearing face coverings, and moving as many activities outdoors as possible. Individuals over age 50 and those with serious underlying medical conditions are at greater risk for serious illness from COVID-19. Indoor dining and indoor gatherings are particularly high risk activities.

Below are key changes that will occur when the Revised Risk Reduction Order takes effect:

• Consistency with Orange Tier: Unless otherwise specified in the County’s Revised Order or Mandatory Directives, businesses are allowed to open to the extent allowed under the State’s Orange Tier.
• Gatherings: The Order strongly discourages gatherings, especially indoor gatherings, because convening with other households for long periods poses a particularly high risk of COVID-19 transmission. The Order does, however, allow both outdoor gatherings (up to 200 people) and indoor gatherings (up to 25% of capacity or 100 people, whichever is fewer). The rules for gatherings (including theaters) are in the Health Officer’s revised Mandatory Directive for Gatherings.
• Indoor Dining: Indoor dining will be allowed, subject to various safety requirements. However, because indoor dining is a high-risk activity, the Health Officer particularly discourages persons at high risk for serious illness if they contract COVID-19, or those who have frequent contact with persons at high risk, from partaking in indoor dining. Under the revised order, restaurants may open for indoor services up to 25% of capacity or 100 people, whichever is fewer. The new rules for indoor and outdoor dining will be set forth in a forthcoming Mandatory Directive for Dining.
• Modifications of Directives: In order to better align with the State’s restrictions applicable in counties in the Orange Tier, forthcoming modifications to various other directives will likewise take effect at the time the County moves into the Orange Tier and the Revised Risk Reduction goes into effect.

This press release was produced by the City of Cupertino. The views expressed here are the author’s own.