County supervisors approve post-pandemic guidelines for businesses

The Board of Supervisors today approved a comprehensive plan for advancing the process of removing regulatory hurdles connected to the statewide coronavirus emergency and opening most sectors of the Riverside County economy faster.

"This is to make Riverside County ready for the next stage of reopening," Transportation & Land Management Agency Director Juan Perez said. "This will signal to the state that we're ready to move on. It provides robust guidance for protecting public health.''

The supervisors' 5-0 vote formally established the "Readiness & Reopening Framework" as the primary in-progress strategy for creating pathways to expand the number of sectors eligible to revive operations in the face of Gov. Gavin Newsom's four-phase virus-related deregulation plan.

Watch: Supervisor Perez discusses "Readiness and Reopening Framework" live on News Channel 3

The 33-page document, drafted by TLMA and other agencies, mirrored some of the same proposals submitted by Supervisor Kevin Jeffries that the board signed off on Friday.

"This is not a one-size-fits-all approach," Perez said. "This provides the right level of guidance that can be supplemented with state guidance. It hits those notes well."

The plan was broached during Friday's nearly seven-hour hearing on the rollback of local health directives issued by county Public Health Officer Dr. Cameron Kaiser. That hearing, and another one three days earlier, resulted in the bulk of Kaiser's health orders being rescinded, and the county aligning with the state's mandates.

The Readiness & Reopening Framework's goal focuses on expediting the removal of closures impacting all of the county's businesses, as well churches and other entities. The plan underscores that the number of daily reports of influenza- like illnesses has been steadily declining over the last month, and county Department of Public Health Director Kim Saruwatari said there has been a general two-week "downward trend'' of coronavirus cases documented by hospitals countywide.

Last week, Newsom said the state is generally in phase two of his reopening format, permitting manufacturers, warehouses and some retailers to resume business, with safeguards. However, steeper requirements are preventing counties from moving into the latter stage of phase two and beyond, allowing more private sector activity.

Chief among the requirements is confirmation that no county documents a coronavirus-related death in a 14-day period. All of the supervisors agreed
Friday that it was asking too much. Saruwatari said Tuesday that a requirement that the county effectively record no more than 250 COVID-19 cases in a rolling 14-day period was "not realistic for a large urban county."

Riverside County has the second-highest number of confirmed cases and deaths in the state, behind only Los Angeles County.

As of May 11, the county had 5,189 confirmed cases and 217 deaths.

The board members said they hoped the Readiness & Reopening Framework could serve as a model for other large counties in the region, forming a united front to push the governor toward compromise. The framework contains proposed "best practices,'' or measures that can be adopted to demonstrate that the public health system, merchant and business community, long-term care facilities and other operations are situated to manage ongoing virus-related challenges.

The framework highlights the preference for physical distancing -- keeping people 6 feet apart in confined spaces -- using face coverings and gloves in settings where they're most advantageous, establishing policies that require employees to remain home when ill and using "environmental controls," such as partitions or panels, to lessen interactions that pose a risk.

According to the framework, a predicted "surge'' that forecast as many as 65,000 infections and 2,000 virus-related fatalities would occur
countywide by May 1 did not come close to materializing -- but the preparations triggered in response to that prediction put the county in an ideal position to handle future complications stemming from COVID-19.

According to the report, a recently formed Economic Recovery Task Force, which is comprised of business community representatives and county officials, is already engaging private sector entities and reinforcing the
positives behind best practices that include the use of personal protective equipment, or PPE -- such as face masks and surgical gloves -- which Newsom said should be integrated into a number of workplaces.

The county has excess capacity for accommodating homeless individuals who require isolation and quarantine, but it only has about one-third of the
"contact tracers" -- individuals who follow patients' cases and identify individuals who might be secondarily at risk -- under the governor's criteria, according to officials.

They said the county's Skilled Nursing Facilities Outreach Support teams have been working steadfastly assisting nursing homes and other long-term care rehab facilities with instituting protocols to prevent viral spread.

"We need to be proactive, not reactive, when dealing with our most
vulnerable populations," Supervisor Jeff Hewitt said. "We're talking about
people, not statistics."

The second half of phase two will permit opening dine-in restaurants,
personal grooming establishments, houses of worship and wineries -- all with safeguards in place. The third phase will permit theaters, libraries, museums, bars and lounges to open their doors without fear of state penalties, while the final phase will remove barriers to convention centers, sporting venues and concert halls.

Perez said the Readiness & Reopening Framework is not an imposition on businesses, but rather offers a set of guideposts for them to follow.