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Ensuring the county continues to move through the state’s tier framework for reopening businesses, San Mateo County officials announced they and city officials are developing a collaborative task force to educate and penalize establishments that violate safety guidelines.
During a virtual press conference Wednesday, County Manager Mike Callagy said that the task force would be deployed in the coming weeks and would focus on educating businesses and places of worship on COVID-related health codes before opting to ticket violators.
“We want to make sure that as we open more we do so in a safe and strategic manner and there are guidelines businesses must adhere to,” said Callagy. “It’s in the best interest of businesses and we don’t want people advancing too far in front.”
The program would allow public reporting through a call center which would curate all violations and concerns into a central agency. Callagy said the program is intended to reassure the public that outings can be done safely.
“We want to instill a level of confidence with consumers that wherever they go shopping, dining or worshiping, there are safeguards in place,” said Callagy.
Initially, violators may be subject to a warning or fine but repeat offenders could face harsher repercussions. The county instituted a ticketing framework when mandating masks in early August which makes commercial violators of health guidelines susceptible to a maximum fine of $3,000.
Callagy noted an emphasis will be placed on working to bring establishments into compliance with health orders rather than distributing fines, noting concern some businesses are unaware of what is and is not permitted.
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The new program, along with efforts to increase countywide testing and developing targeted messaging for high risk communities are all efforts by the county to continue further reopenings. Currently the county remains in the red, widespread risk tier, which permits a variety of retail and personal care businesses to open with modifications.
To enter the orange, the county will have to stay within the red tier for at least three weeks and meet the next tier’s criteria for two consecutive weeks. As of Tuesday, the state reported the county had a positivity rate of 3.7%, meeting half of the criteria to enter the third least restrictive orange tier, but has an adjusted positive case rate of 6.0 cases per 100,000 residents which would have to come down to no more than 3.9 cases.
Callagy expressed optimism in the region’s data but noted the county met an unfortunate milestone, reporting 150 COVID-related fatalities out of the 9,990 residents who have tested positive for the virus. Hospitalizations have also continued to trend down with 42 confirmed and suspected COVID-19 patients receiving treatment countywide, 15 of which in the ICU.
“I can’t believe we’re almost seven months into the pandemic but things continue to progress,” said Callagy, noting the county is focused on infection disparities in communities of color.
The Latino community represents 51% of total COVID-19 cases countywide while representing 21% of the county’s population, said Callagy. Also of concern are young adults in the 20 to 29 age group who represent 20.4% of total infections but only 6% of the population.
“[Young people have] got to stop with the gathering that we’re seeing. We understand young people want to gather but this is a moment in time to adhere [to safety guidelines]. Let’s get through this, open businesses and have more interactions in a safe manner.”
So what happens if you don’t provide any identifying information for their ticket? Or give false information (claim you don’t have ID on you or say your name is Jorg)? What happens if you don’t take receipt of the ticket? Will they assault you by placing it in your pocket? Sounds like the country is trying to institute another revenue source to pay for pensions and benefits. Challenge your ticket/fine in court to use up more county funds. At least people will feel their taxes are being put to use for something other than pensions and benefits.
I just checked out covid19.ca.gov Blueprint for a Safer Economy and I think San Mateo County is not going to make it to the orange tier because the State has added a California Health Equity Metric which will be difficult to attain. (cdph.ca.gov)
Lockdowns were a ruinous mistake. Not only did they NOT eliminate the virus, they guaranteed that we could expect an increase in deaths as we came out of them. Thus the mincing, halting, tenuous steps at re-opening as the lockdown-advocating fools try to minimize that eventuality. Beating us over the head with the mush-brained mantra of “safety”.
Advice to Government: You had your shot. You blew it. You damaged, destroyed and killed many more than you saved. And let us not mention the crushing debt you incurred in your “efforts”. Get out of the way and let us go on with our lives.
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(3) comments
So what happens if you don’t provide any identifying information for their ticket? Or give false information (claim you don’t have ID on you or say your name is Jorg)? What happens if you don’t take receipt of the ticket? Will they assault you by placing it in your pocket? Sounds like the country is trying to institute another revenue source to pay for pensions and benefits. Challenge your ticket/fine in court to use up more county funds. At least people will feel their taxes are being put to use for something other than pensions and benefits.
I just checked out covid19.ca.gov Blueprint for a Safer Economy and I think San Mateo County is not going to make it to the orange tier because the State has added a California Health Equity Metric which will be difficult to attain. (cdph.ca.gov)
Good Luck.
More from “The Cult COVIDians”
Lockdowns were a ruinous mistake. Not only did they NOT eliminate the virus, they guaranteed that we could expect an increase in deaths as we came out of them. Thus the mincing, halting, tenuous steps at re-opening as the lockdown-advocating fools try to minimize that eventuality. Beating us over the head with the mush-brained mantra of “safety”.
Advice to Government: You had your shot. You blew it. You damaged, destroyed and killed many more than you saved. And let us not mention the crushing debt you incurred in your “efforts”. Get out of the way and let us go on with our lives.
Welcome to the discussion.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.