Yes, masks are still required in Placer County: What a new COVID-19 order means for residents

Placer County officials voted unanimously Tuesday to end a local COVID-19 emergency, the same day the state of California loosened some restrictions in the county of 400,000. But what does that mean for residents?

“It doesn’t change a whole lot because we are still under the California state of emergency and the directives from the state,” said Board of Supervisors Chair Bonnie Gore, who represents most of Roseville.

Statewide orders mandating the wearing of facial coverings when outside your home still apply. Restaurants, houses of worship and movie theaters can resume indoor service, but only at 25% capacity. Malls can open at 50% capacity, but common areas must remain closed. Gyms and fitness centers can open indoors at up to 10% capacity. Bars and pubs that don’t serve food must remain closed.

County officials are still encouraging people to maintain social distancing and frequently wash their hands. But Placer County sheriff’s deputies are not enforcing directives nor penalizing businesses for not “checking all the boxes to the letter of the law,” Gore said.

But the board’s decision is sending a message to the state because Placer County’s numbers don’t warrant a shutdown, she said.

Placer has identified 3,220 COVID cases since the pandemic hit six months ago, including 11 new cases on Thursday. Thirty-eight people have died in the county, 33 of them age 65 or older, and five between the ages of 50 and 64.

Most notably, the county’s testing positivity rate over the past week is 4.7%. That is below the 5% threshold advised by the World Health Organization as the safe level for reopening businesses, schools and other aspects of society.

On Tuesday, the county was downgraded from the state’s most restrictive level of coronavirus monitoring to the second most restrictive, the red tier, allowing more businesses to open, including indoor dining at restaurants up to 25% capacity, and hybrid instruction at schools.

Placer County officials took it a step further at Tuesday’s meeting by ending the local state of emergency that had been in place since March. In protest of the decision, Placer County public health officer Dr. Aimee Sisson resigned.

“The state of emergency does not apply to many local jurisdictions,” Gore said in a phone interview with The Bee. “Especially in the North State, the numbers are low. Placer County is not L.A. County. We should not have to be held to the same standards as another community that is experiencing very different numbers, very different spread of the disease.”

County officials have sent four letters to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office seeking clarification on the state’s policy, making the argument for more local control. To date, the county has not received a response from the governor.

In public comment at Tuesday’s meeting, dozens of residents of Placer County addressed the board, many of them frustrated with the state government. One man, Kenneth Rhodes, a small business owner in Loomis and father to six daughters, told the board he is struggling because of the state’s shutdown.

“The government isn’t paying us to be shut down,” he said, his voice shaking with emotion. “We’re losing everything. . . We have no way to provide for our families.”

Gore said she hears from her constituents frequently with stories of how families are grappling with financial hardship, mental health issues and even suicide. She said the county’s food banks have never been more in-use.

“People are at their wit’s end,” she said.

It is unclear if the board’s decision will affect the county’s CARES Act funding, which is federal money to help counties offset the costs of the pandemic. Placer County received $13.7 million earlier this year, which Gore said they put toward local business relief and public health costs such as testing, tracking and materials. The remaining $27 million is yet to be dispersed.

“My hope is that other boards will look at their data, because this is about data, and if your numbers are low and so insignificant that you are shutting down your entire community, then we need to question that,” Gore said. “This is not a one size fits all for the state of California.”

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