The Fairgrounds in Monterey is undergoing a change to become a housing site during the pandemic.

Spartan is the word that best describes the accommodations at the Monterey County Fairgrounds, where Monterey County officials are working on setting up an alternative housing site for people who may need to isolate due to Covid-19, but lack housing of their own or adequate space to isolate. 

A green khaki cot, a hard plastic folding chair and a small pile of folded bed linens—a gray blanket and white sheets—are the only furnishings inside the 10-by-10-foot cubicles in fairgrounds buildings that usually play host to fair exhibits, world-class musicians during the Monterey Jazz Festival and vendor displays during expos. Burgundy drapes serve as doors to each cubicle.

Reporters got a look at the alternative housing site in Monterey during a tour conducted by county officials on Monday, April 27. The site is expected to be ready to receive patients who test positive for Covid-19 by Friday, May 1.

The facility could house up to 230 people who don't need hospitalization but have to remain isolated for at least 14 days to avoid spreading the virus.

How many people actually wind up being isolated there is a question mark, and officials didn’t want to hazard a guess. The facility is costing $480,000 for the initial setup and first month of operation. Subsequent months—if needed—will cost approximately $250,000 a month, according to Mike Derr, logistics section chief for the county’s Emergency Operations Center. The county can recoup 75 percent of costs from the federal government, not including county staff time.

“We’d love it if we didn’t have to use this facility at all," Assistant County Administrative Officer Nick Chiulos said, "but we can’t wait to see if we need it."

It took about three days of planning followed by three days of setup to get to this point.  it was a team effort with the city of Monterey, which provided input but is not involved in the operation or security.

Those who do stay at the Fairgrounds alternative housing site will be referred by nearby Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula. They could be homeless individuals or they could be people who live with multiple people and have no way to remain isolated in their own homes, and risk infecting others.

Once they enter the facility they can’t leave until they finish the isolation period, although officials can’t force them to stay if they insist on leaving. In that case, they will be given a ride to somewhere else they are able to isolate.

Several fairgrounds buildings are being used as dormitories for females, males, transgender individuals, families and staff. (Transgender individuals are allowed to choose which dorms they lodge in.)

Currently the West and East Art rooms are set aside for families, one for mothers with children and the other for fathers with children. The children must have also tested positive, otherwise parents have to make arrangements for their care elsewhere. Officials said they are expecting trailers from the state that could be used for housing entire families in the fairgrounds’ RV Park.

The large lawn area that normally holds food booths during big events will be used as a recreation area for patients. The amphitheater will be the site of nighttime outdoor movies. Officials admitted the entertainment is “limited,” with no internet and no TV. Some board games will be made available.

Meals will be prepared in a trailer on site by a vendor and served in the food court area where people will eat on picnic tables while remaining at least six feet apart at all times. Depending on how many people are staying, they may eat meals in shifts.

Other than time on the lawn or at meals, showers in the portable shower trailers, or movies in the amphitheater, the dorm residents have only their 10-by-10-foot cubicles to stay in, with no personal items or things like extra blankets or pillows from outside allowed to avoid bringing any disease or pests into the facility, officials said.

The good news for those with pets is that the county partnered with nonprofit SPCA for Monterey County to provide a kennel for up to 45 dogs or cats in the outdoor vendor area of the fairgrounds. Small pets that can stay in a portable kennel may be able to stay in the dorm with patients on a case by case basis.

Officials said they are using local vendors as much as possible, although a local firm wasn’t ready to provide the cubicles and drapes in time for setup, so a company from outside of the county was used.

Local firms will be tapped for similar materials in Salinas and King City, where similar housing sites are underway. In Salinas the site will be at Sherwood Hall; in King City there are two sites, San Lorenzo Park and Salinas Valley Fairgrounds. Patients will be referred by hospitals in those communities.

In addition to medical personnel, a dorm manager and a fire monitor, there will be 24-hour armed private security on site throughout.

The Monterey Health Department will follow up with dorm residents twice a day throughout the 14-day period. Once deemed no longer infectious, they residents will be transported by the county back to where they were living before being diagnosed.

An alternative care site is underway at Joby Aviation's prioerty at the Marina Airport. The 55,000-square-foot site will be available for use by all four of the hospitals in Monterey County for patients who need medical care that is less intensive than can be provided onsite at hospitals, but need more medical attention than will be provided at the alternative housing sites described above. The site will be staffed by medical personnel and can house up to 350 patients.