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County Supervisors delay vote to rescind health orders until Friday

RIVERSIDE COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

The Riverside County Board of Supervisors voted to table their decision on a proposal that would remove the county health officer's order, including mandatory face covering and social distancing guidelines.

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After a 9-hour board meeting with many county residents arguing for and against the proposal and discussion with various county and local officials, the Supervisors agreed to wait on the Governor's guideline to reopen some businesses with restrictions.

The Board of Supervisors is expected to vote on the proposal during a special emergency meeting on Friday.

Supervisor Perez said Riverside County is in a great position to move into the state's phase 2 plan by Friday.

Phase 2 would see various "low-risk" workplaces like retails stores reopen.

Gov. Newsom to allow some businesses to open on Friday with modifications

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco rallied for the reopening of businesses.

"While the loss of any life is tragic, we must also be cognizant of the future and well being of our county's fiscal health and ability to perform necessary functions," Bianco told supervisors.

Palm Springs Mayor Geoff Kors spoke during the public comment, calling for the orders to remain.

"These clearly have made a difference in reducing infections. To rescind these now will result in increased infections," Kors said.

Watch: Large crowd gathers outside Riverside County Supervisors meeting

Kim Saruwatari, Public Health Director of Riverside University Health System - Public Health, discussed the most recent coronavirus projections and data.

The current projections show that while we are doing much better than health officials' initial trajectory, we are on track to have nearly 6,500 cumulative cases.

Projections presented on May 5, 2020

County health officer Dr. Cameron Kaiser also spoke to the board and spoke about his orders along with the outlook in the future.

"Businesses will need the consumer confidence to get patrons into their businesses and that would be able to be accomplished a lot more simply if people know what to expect.

Dr. Kaiser also discussed the spoke about issuing his orders and

"I do not minimize the imposition this makes on personal liberties. I don't take that lightly, Kaiser told the Board. "I do believe, however, that the orders served a purpose as part of a response to an unprecedented crisis and I think that if they are maintained and administered appropriately, they can get us to the point where we don’t need them anymore much faster."

As of May 5, 2020, Riverside County has 4,454 positive cases, 1,997 recoveries, and 184 deaths.

Stay with News Channel 3 for continuing updates.

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