“Cautiously optimistic” health officials in Contra Costa County gave the go-ahead to nail salons, massage parlors and other small businesses closed by COVID-19 to reopen later this week with outdoor surgeries.
The announcement came Wednesday and goes into effect Friday, said Contra Costa Health Services spokesman Karl Fischer. The new order will bring both the province’s local health order and the state mandate into line.
Under the province’s old order, companies such as those that will be cleared to operate Friday had to remain closed even though they meet certain state guidelines, Fischer said.
Contra Costa County and seven of the nine Bay Area counties remain on the COVID-19 watch list, which prevents certain businesses from opening and keeping school campuses closed. An area should show, on average, more than two weeks of less than 100 new cases of coronavirus per 100,000 people, and that average should remain intact for three straight days.
Napa County is the lonely Bay Area County that is not on the watch list.
The new order will also allow gyms and fitness centers to do outside business, while hotels and short-term rentals may open up for personal as well as recreational travel and not just for essentials.
Social Officer Dr. Chris Farnitano said in a statement that the reason was “cautiously optimistic that there is a slow downward trend in provincial cases, test positivity rates and hospitalizations” for COVID-19.
Data compiled by this news organization showed that Contra Costa County averaged over 208 new daily cases as of last week.
The rolling average of seven days of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Contra Costa County also dropped slightly, from 103 on August 5 to 95 on August 25. The average percentage of tests in the provincial administration that have since returned has fallen from 8.8% on 6 August to 7.4% on 24 August.
“We need everyone to understand that this is a reason to keep track of what we do and not let our guards down,” Farnitano said.
According to state guidelines, a province must remain 14 straight days from the state’s follow-up list for schools to clear in order to re-teach on campus. Contra Costa County began last week allowing elementary schools to apply for exemption to bring students back in person, citing the factors that gave way to the new order announced Wednesday.
As of Tuesday, 22 private schools in the province have applied for exemption to reopen, and three completed applications have been submitted to Contra Costa Health Services for review. No schools have yet been approved to reopen, and health officials have refused to provide information on individual applications until decisions have been finalized.
Staff writer Erin Woo contributed to this story.
