A simple orange plastic fence encompassed the ongoing divisions of an entire community Tuesday as the city increased enforcement of public health orders and promised there was more to come for those who refused to comply.
As the daily number of new COVID-19 cases from the county fell below 200 for the first time since June 22, dozens of people ran San Diego officials around the ventilation of a small Ocean Beach park to prevent the kind of too close meetings that health damage orders.
The temporary barrier around Ocean Beach Park did not last long.
Someone apparently felt strong enough to cut Tuesday morning. The installation of the barrier set up a scare battle between those who felt that the police had not seriously maintained an order for distance and masking and those who saw such editions as overarching government.
One quarrel between two men in the park looked for a moment as if it could happen.
Kevin Hastings, 40, of Ocean Beach, said Tuesday that it was frustrating to see people “hijack” the community farm market every Wednesday night with large gatherings and live music so loud that it hurts locals – and police nothing to do about the party.
“I think it’s not worth her time,” he told police. ‘Except when you stab someone, they don’t appear. And that’s how it got to this point, because everyone knows, ‘Let’s go to Ocean Beach! There are no laws! We can do whatever the … we want! ‘”
Joel Day, senior advisor to the city of the San Diego COVID-19 response and recovery, spoke to the press at Ocean Beach Veterans Plaza on Tuesday.
(Sam Hodgson / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Dr Joel Day, the city’s senior adviser on COVID-19 response and recovery, spoke at the park on Tuesday afternoon when city officials belted the orange holiday in the back of a pickup truck. He called on the general public to distance themselves socially and he emphasized the importance of individual responsibility to prevent the virus.
“We are not going to get out of here, but what we are realizing is that it is incredibly important for all of us as a community to come and say what is acceptable and what is not,” Day said. “We are here today to say that it is unacceptable to come together in this municipal way, and that it is unfair for the business owners who are in good satisfaction, for the residents who are doing well.”
“This is not acceptable,” shouted a woman. ”
“Where are the police?” asked the woman. ‘Where are the sheriffs? [deputies]? Where is the legislation? ”
“We’re sick of you telling us what it is,” a man shouted.
City crews are pulling away a fence that was set up to prevent gathering at Ocean Beach Veterans Plaza and burning down Tuesday.
(Sam Hodgson / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
San Diego Councilwoman Jennifer Campbell, a retired physician, said in comments at the park that she also wanted to see more enforcement to stop Wednesday night’s meetings.
“We have to get tough, and I tell you, if the situation that happened last Wednesday night happens this Wednesday night, there will be a disaster,” she warned.
“I’m good!” shouted someone. Someone else shouted, “Let’s go!”
Day said after the news conference that the city’s survival strategy was to first train criminals, then elevate them to county action such as cease-and-desist letters and orders to close, and finally enforcement.
He said the city needed to work with the province for the escalation step because it had unique authority to issue cease-and-desist letters and closure orders.
Day and Campbell both said after their remarks Tuesday that there needs to be greater clarity about the amount of fines associated with citations. Campbell said the city council might need to participate.
San Diego City Councilman Jennifer Campbell spoke to the press at Ocean Beach Veterans Plaza on Tuesday.
(Sam Hodgson / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
“They can only do what the mayor allows them to do,” she said of police surveillance of the health care system. “The city council needs to introduce a law to make the quotes, set the amount of the fee.”
San Diego County Superintendent Nathan Fletcher made it clear during a regular COVID-19 briefing Tuesday afternoon that the Department of Public Health is working with local law enforcement agencies to lift $ 1,000-a-day quotes for companies and other “entities” that do not comply. to shutdown orders.
To this day, local aldermen are not accustomed to stopping and stopping those who continue to operate after being told in writing. The San Diego Police Department and the county sheriff’s office, Fletcher said, have agreed to start more aggressively than they have in the past.
“Only the law firm responsible for that particular location has the ability to issue those citations,” Fletcher said after thanking the “vast majority” of organizations that have their order on health.
He said the province is working on similar plans with other cities that have their own police departments to take similar actions.
To date, however, lawmakers with most local authorities have largely restricted themselves from writing cards when individuals appear in public without face coverage or tighter gear than social distance requirements.
While legislators seem to be taking a more uniform approach to citing businesses and other organizations, it does not seem to be the approach for individuals. Fletcher said the citation pressure does not extend to individuals at this point.
“If it’s related to individuals, it’s really going to be a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction decision,” Fletcher said.
Although the father’s coast was very hot, the region’s daily COVID-19 report remained cool. Just 182 positive cases, out of the 5,699 total results returned, were reported to the province on Monday for inclusion in Tuesday’s report. The last time the province reported fewer than 200 cases in one day was June 22nd. After surpassing 5% over the weekend, the region’s 14-day average positive test rate has now dropped to 4.8%.
Even more encouraging is the 14-day average of cases per 100,000 inhabitants. As calculated by the state, the local rate sat at 105, just above the threshold of 100 per 100,000 that landed the province on the governor’s waiting list.
Daily numbers below 240, said Dr Wilma Wooten, the province’s public health official, will briefly bring the region off the waiting list. A rate below 100 would have to continue for 17 days, Wooten said, for schools serving classes seven through 12 to open. Elementary schools may already be seeking an exemption from the state to open earlier.
But the public health official reminded the public that only schools, not businesses and churches that are currently forced to operate outside or not at all, are sure of lost freedom.
“If we get off the list of monitoring, the only sector that will allow reopening schools,” Wooten said.
Govin Gavin Newsom has previously signaled that his office should approve a broader reopening plan, and the province has signaled that it will follow the state’s leadership.
Mayors of Northern Province speak
However, it is clear that there is still a lot of interpretation at stake regarding the maintenance of public health.
Two northern provincial mayors said Tuesday that the inconsistency under state, county and local laws makes health care difficult to enforce.
“We need to follow state law,” said Carlsbad Mayor Matt Hall. “It should not belong to every city … it would come from the state, to the province, to the city.”
Beach closures this spring and summer were an example of this. Each coastal city made its own decision about opening and closing, which at times left some open and some closed. The differences were particularly confusing for tourists and other visitors arriving from outside the province.
“You want to make sure the laws are the same from Oceanside to Encinitas,” Hall said. “We all want to do what’s right, but we need clear direction.”
Local laws must also be consistent with the state and federal constitution, he said, and must not infringe on anyone’s liberty.
‘If we are in a compromise [health] situation, we need to protect ourselves, ”Hall said. “Trying to do what you should or shouldn’t do is a challenge.”
Most businesses and residents are trying to follow the orders, said Oceanside Mayor Peter Weiss.
Oceanside police arrested one person, owner of Metroflex Gym Louis Uridel, in May when, after a week-long closure, he reopened his business in violation of the county’s health order.
Uridel was released later that day. His business closed shortly after his arrest, but opened a few days later a second time later and has been open ever since. It is currently working outside on the sidewalk under canvas roofs.
“Given what happened last time, it is unlikely we will arrest anyone [else], ”Said Weiss.
“We have transferred several cases to the law firm and are awaiting their decision,” he said.
City officials should consider the negative effects closures can have on small businesses, Weiss said.
“For me, the economic impact on all these companies will be greater than the pandemic,” he said. ‘We have to do … everything we can do to keep these people on the floor. We need to get people back to work, to keep businesses open. ”
The province’s public health order is vague and as a result it is being maintained selectively, Weiss said.
“All persons must remain in their homes” … except to travel to essential businesses or activities, according to the first sentence of the updated health order which is now in force.
“All public or private ‘meetings’ (with a few limited exceptions) are prohibited’ is the second sentence, Weiss pointed out. However, people are widely violated with these punishments and others.
The initial goal of the health care order was to prevent an influx of COVID-19 patients from overwhelm the medical facilities of the region. So far that has not happened.
“We have more than flattened the curve,” Weiss said. “The hospitals are not overwhelmed.”
The latest numbers are returning him, with the total number of COVID-19-related hospitalizations below 400 for nine straight days in a region where the total bed capacity is more than 6,000.
Gym is primarily closed
The doors were open at Boulevard Fitness, but there was no socially distant line-out on Tuesday. Earlier in the day, San Diego Police Department quoted the owner of the business, Shawn Gilbert, and he closed for business.
(Sam Hodgson / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
On Tuesday afternoon, the doors remained open at Boulevard Fitness, but the socially distinct line out front was gone.
The owner of the Heights High School, Shawn Gilbert, was standing behind a piece of plexiglass in front of the gym, rejecting several clients who appeared to be expecting to exercise. He said he received a citation from the San Diego Police Department earlier in the day and that, for now, the gym is closed.
“They were really polite, really fun,” he said. “Real professionals.”
He said he did not know what his next steps would be.
“I will meet with my lawyer and take it from there,” he said.
As he spoke, the clink of weights against metal could be heard behind him. Gilbert said they still allowed personal trainers, who were employees of Boulevard Fitness, to work out one-on-one with clients in the outdoor area at the back of the gym.
Photojournalist Sam Hodgson contributed to this report.
