What's Next To Reopen Orange County's Businesses

ORANGE COUNTY, CA —With Gov. Gavin Newsom lifting restrictions to the stay-home orders, Orange County's board of supervisors met again to hammer out plans for reopening the stalled economy during the coronavirus pandemic.

In Orange County, Supervisor Don Wagner—who serves on an ad hoc economic recovery committee with Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Michelle Steel—assured the public that the governor's four-part reopening plan does not supersede the state's stay-at-home orders. However, Supervisor Doug Chaffee said his office sent an email to constituents explaining that the guidelines were only advisory, thereby muddying the waters.

California will begin to lift restrictions in its stay-home order late this week, allowing retailers and manufacturers to open for business as early as Friday. The step means that California is entering Stage 2 of its gradual, four-part reopening plan. The timeline for moving into each stage will depend on the state's ability to ramp up testing for the coronavirus, begin widespread contact tracing of people who've tested positive, and protect vulnerable residents, Newsom said.

Some businesses will be able to reopen, including "low risk" retailers who can conduct curbside pickups. Others won't, at least, not yet. Stage 3 of the reopening plan will include hair salons, dine-in restaurants, gyms, churches, and other close person-to-person businesses. It will be months until mass-gathering places, such as concert venues, sports arenas, and theme parks, will be able to reopen.

That said, not all counties are created equally.

Orange County, one of the counties in California that has been only mildly affected by coronavirus outbreaks, may open some businesses sooner. Still, the governor reserves the right to revert the stay at home orders, he says. Last month, he described this as a "toggling back and forth between more-restrictive and less-restrictive measures."

Ultimately, it is an increase in testing and tracing the virus that is needed to lift restrictions fully.

At Tuesday's board meeting, several residents angrily recounted how the quarantine conditions were strangling their businesses and called on the supervisors to ignore Gov. Gavin Newsom's executive orders, which some claimed are "illegal."

Chaffee proposed issuing a news release from the county to clarify what the guidelines mean. Still, when Supervisor Andrew Do expressed some confusion as to what exactly Chaffee wanted to say in the release, he backed off and asked county staff to come up with a news release the board can consider next week.

Supervisor Do sent out a draft of an action plan to outline how public health measures should be implemented as Orange County moves into phase 2 of the governor's plans for reopening California.

"We believe there is urgency in the need to reopen our economy and introduce some social easing as soon as practicable," Do Said. He also admitted that public health is the paramount concern. "Every decision must be grounded on medical science, building off of the best and latest data available," Do stated.

Supervisor Lisa Bartlett said her office received hundreds of phone calls from residents inquiring whether the county is allowing businesses to reopen.

Wagner, while emphasizing that the county cannot overstep state authority, nevertheless on Monday advocated that the county not enforce Newsom's orders, such as the one halting restaurants from dine-in service.

Meanwhile, San Clemente's Nomads Canteen announced it was back in business for sit-down service, over the weekend and Orange County's supervisors, after a heated debate, submitted a plan to reopen the remaining 16 percent of Orange County's beaches for active use to the governor's office.

Patch will continue to follow the reopening of Orange County.

Are you a business owner? Email your editor at:Ashley.Ludwig@Patch.comand share your coronavirus shutdown story with Patch.

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