Reopening Begins In Riverside County As Coronavirus Lurks

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — As Riverside County, its cities, and many of its businesses and residents grapple with budget shortfalls amid coronavirus, Gov. Gavin Newsom said that retail, manufacturing and logistics may reopen Friday but with modifications to operations.

Riverside County confirmed it is following the governor's lead by allowing local businesses within these sectors to reopen Friday per the state's criteria. The county is not adding additional restrictions beyond what the state has imposed.

The governor also said he will be unveiling plans Tuesday for a "regional variance" program that allows counties to expand reopenings beyond the three sectors if strict thresholds are met.

Newsom's announcements came during a Thursday news briefing, in which he said the economy will begin slowly reopening in "Phase 2" of his four-part recovery plan, but he warned, "This is not a return to normal. COVID-19 is still spreading."

An updated "Resilience Roadmap" has been posted on the state's coronavirus response website. The portal provides specific guidelines for the retail, manufacturing and logistics sectors, as well as updated guidelines for 14 other sectors.

For example, curbside retail can begin Friday. The types of businesses that can reopen include but are not limited to: bookstores, jewelry stores, toy stores, clothing stores, shoe stores, home and furnishing stores, sporting goods stores, antique stores, music stores and florists. Supply chains supporting these businesses in the manufacturing and logistical sectors can also reopen, albeit with certain restrictions.

In terms of reopening more than just the 17 sectors, Riverside County will need to meet certain conditions first, some of which it already has. The types of businesses and organizations that might be allowed to reopen under the state's Phase 2 "regional variance" plan include offices, restaurants with dining, shopping malls and outdoor museums.

Although the "regional variance" criteria won't be fully detailed until next week, the governor highlighted some of the key benchmarks the county will need to first achieve: hospital capacity that can accommodate at least a 35% surge in COVID-19 cases; proper PPE and protections for hospital workers; no more than 1 COVID-19 case per 10,000 residents in the last 14 days; no COVID-19 deaths in the last 14 days; minimum daily testing of 1.5 people per 1,000 residents; at least 15 contact tracers per 100,000 residents; ability to temporarily house at least 15% of county's homeless; proper protection for employees returning to work (protective gear, sick time); at least a 14-day supply of PPE at skilled nursing facilities; and the ability to tighten county restrictions if needed.

The governor suggested there could be flexibility in the regional variance program, but it's unclear if COVID-19 caseloads and death counts might be an obstacle for Riverside County. As of Thursday afternoon, the county reported 4,756 COVID-19 cases, an uptick of 84 over the last 24 hours. The death toll reached 192, an increase of six since Wednesday.

The Riverside County Board of Supervisors has signaled it will abide by state mandates but it wants to fully reopen the local economy as soon as possible.

In a released statement following Thursday's Sacramento news briefing, Riverside County Board Chair and Fourth District Supervisor V. Manuel Perez said, "Governor Newsom announced a limited move into stage two of the four-stage economic reopening plan, allowing gradually for more modes of commerce to resume, with modifications. As a county, we stay focused on the mission of achieving progress across multiple benchmarks of public health and meet the capacity to eventually get more sectors of the economy reopened. With that said, I look forward to working with Public Health and the Economic Recovery Taskforce to ensure a cautious reopening through this phase and into the next phases.”

During a marathon meeting Tuesday, the supervisors grappled with whether to rescind county public health orders that require social distancing, use of face coverings, ongoing limitations on golfing, keeping schools shuttered and barring short-term rentals, except in cases of providing emergency shelter for vulnerable people.

After more than eight hours, the supervisors unanimously voted to continue the discussion to Friday at 1 p.m. in the hope there would be more clarity from Sacramento. Viewers can tune into the board meeting here.

Treasurer-Tax Collector Jon Christensen advocated ending county-level restrictions during Tuesday's meeting, and he warned, "We're in trouble financially as a county, as a state."

Reflecting back on the Great Recession, Christensen said, "This is going to make 2008 look like a walk in the park. We have to reopen — time is of the essence."

This comes as Riverside County is planning budget cuts to all county services due to lost revenues tied to state and county COVID-19 restrictions.

"Every department and every service — funded by the General Fund aka your tax dollars — will be impacted," Supervisor Kevin Jeffries posted Wednesday on social media. "All department heads will be notifying the CEO (and board of supervisors) of the impacts and cuts. The first two rounds of cuts will likely total over $100 million plus. The board (in my opinion) will need to conduct triage and determine which services will need to be (mostly) preserved more than others. Be assured — it will be unpopular and ugly."