Is Monterey County ready to reopen its economy? That is the big-picture question facing the County Board of Supervisors when they meet today, Tuesday, May 26, at 10:30am.
The more technical question on the agenda before the board is whether to authorize Chair Chris Lopez to sign a letter to state officials in support of a "Monterey County variance attestation," the technical term for an expedited path to Stage 2 reopening.
"The Board of Supervisors of the county of Monterey is pleased to provide you with its strong and unanimous support for the attestation," the draft letter reads. "The board supports the need to protect vulnerable populations, continue social distancing, and monitor indicators that may trigger the need to reinstate more restrictive measures."
The letter of support is only one item that Monterey County Health Director Elsa Jimenez and Health Officer Edward Moreno need to present to state officials. Most of the 140-page attestation form is more technical, detailing data points specified by the state to show that counties can handle Covid-19.
Gov. Gavin Newsom laid out a series of criteria for faster reopening, and if counties can show they meet that criteria—the purpose of the attestation form—they can move faster toward reopening.
For example, a county is required to show the number of hospitalized Covid-19 patients has stabilized or fallen. "Monterey County has maintained a stable or decreasing number of patients hospitalized for Covid-19 for greater than two weeks," according to the proposed form.
Another criteria is Covid-19 testing capacity, required by the state to be at least 1.5 per 1,000 residents, or 650. By Moreno's calculation, Monterey County has reached 682 available tests per day, with the county health lab able to do 120 tests per day, two OptumServe sites able to do 264 per day, and the county's four hospitals combined able to do 298. Just two weeks ago, when the Optum sites first opened, the county's testing capacity was 374.
Other criteria include availability of housing for at least 15 percent of homeless county residents in case of an outbreak and need to isolate people; hospital capacity and availability of adequate personal protective equipment; and adequate PPE supply at nursing homes. Also required is ongoing test capacity and a sufficient number of contact tracers to keep tabs on the virus.
"We're not just doing this for any other reason than our community is ready and we meet the criteria," Lopez says.
The industries that Monterey County would reopen, per the draft form, are childcare; cleaning and janitorial services; car washes; pet services like grooming and dog walking; library curbside pickup; outdoor museums and gallery spaces.
Other businesses not included in stage 2 reopening, but which could be added via supplement if the governor approves Monterey County's request, include: dine-in restaurants; schools with modifications; destination retail (such as malls, and allowing shopping beyond curbside pickup).
In the supervisors' draft letter, they request wineries and tasting rooms be added to phase 2.
The cities of Carmel, Gonzales, King City, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Salinas, Sand City and Seaside have submitted letters of support to the board. So have executives of all four Monterey County hospitals.
Steve Packer, CEO of CHOMP, wrote: "We believe that Monterey County has been fortunate in maintaining the low case count and low number of fatalities due to a variety of factors including the concerted efforts of public health and healthcare leaders, our population density, the early implementation of shelter-in-place orders and, most importantly, an engaged and compliant public response to said orders."
Natividad Medical Center CEO Gary Gray wrote: "A healthy business community and a healthy community are one and the same. Monterey County's plan for reopening is good for health, good for business and good for our community."
Details on how to call in to comment or watch the meeting live are viewable here.
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