Riverside County Tells State: Ready To Safely, Cautiously Reopen

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — Riverside County has notified Gov. Gavin Newsom and state officials that it is ready to "cautiously and safely" reopen for business based on public health data, it was announced late Friday.

In a May 14 letter and "attestation" to the governor and officials, Riverside County supervisors said the county has the ability to “meet, exceed or plan to achieve” all but one of the criteria required to accelerate through the state's current stage 2 reopening of the economy.

The criteria the county cannot immediately meet is the "epidemiologic stability of COVID-19," which requires zero COVID-19 deaths and no more than 1 case per 10,000 people in the past 14 days.

In the letter, the county asks for a variance on that criteria. “In our opinion, the metrics are unrealistic for urban counties, and Riverside County in particular, where our geographic size and population make it impossible that no” COVID-19 death would take place during the 14-day period.

Instead, the letter states, "it is appropriate to adopt the federal epidemiology benchmarks," which the county said it is already achieving because of a downward trend in data.

The county and state are currently in stage 2 of the governor’s reopening plan, which allows for curbside delivery and pick up of some retail businesses. With the letter and attestation, the county is requesting to move to the governor’s accelerated stage two, which could reopen additional businesses.

To support the request, the Board of Supervisors on May 12 unanimously approved its Readiness and Reopening Framework, which officials described as a "commonsense plan" that meets both goals of protecting our public health and restoring the economy. Read more about the plan: Reopening Riverside County: Supes Take Another Step Forward

“We are ready to cautiously reopen based on public health data,” the letter states. Read the entire letter here.

Get the latest Riverside County coronavirus stats and news for Friday, May 15: Coronavirus Antibodies, Reopening, Stats: Riverside County Update