Business Sector Weekly Telebriefing Recap—7/15/20

Thank you to everyone who was able to join us for our weekly COVID-19 Business telebrief. A special thank you to our telebriefing guests, Gary S. Johnston, Chief Resilience Officer / Agency Representative, San Diego Office of Emergency Services, and Dr. Thomas R. Coleman, Medical Director, Maternal, Child and Family Health, Health and Human Services Agency, for joining us to help inform and answer questions for the community about important COVID-19 topics. ​

Due to the urgent need for Case Investigators, the County of San Diego will begin accepting applications starting Wednesday, July 15 at 8:00 AM, through Monday, July 20, 11:59 PM. 

Contact tracing and investigation plays an important role in public health responses to infectious disease. By tracing the contacts of COVID-19 confirmed individuals, testing them for infection, treating the COVID-19 confirmed and tracing their contacts in turn, public health aims to reduce infections in the population. For the COVID-19 response, a strong network of Temporary Case Investigators are needed to support individuals with confirmed COVID 19 exposure.  Bilingual applicants are encouraged to apply.
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Temporary Case Investigators’ work will be limited to COVID-19 investigations and incumbents must be able to travel to, and participate in, multiple in-person trainings in San Diego County, be able to report to a County worksite with short notice, and be able to work 40 hours a week, potentially up to 6-9 months. Individuals will perform most of the work from home and should be able to work weekdays and weekends as case investigation is a seven (7) day operation. Temporary Case Investigators may be required to use their own phone, computer (MacOS or Windows, no tablets), and/or internet services.

Interested persons can learn more about the position and apply at sdcounty.ca.gov/hr. 
 
To recap, we discussed the following highlights: 

• Increase in positive COVID-19 cases - 539 more cases yesterday than the previous day and 14 new deaths
• Three of our 13 county triggers on the Trigger Dashboard are flagged: New Community Outbreaks (15 outbreaks over past 7 days), Case Rate, and Case Investigation
• There have been outbreaks in residential settings, despite no gatherings being allowed with individuals other than household members
• As of today, 7/15, the Public Health Order states that indoor operations are closed for gyms and fitness centers, protests, offices for non-essential sectors, personal care services (like nail salons, body waxing and tattoo parlors), hair salons and barbershops, and malls
• State released its own Statewide Public Health Order 

Followed by Questions asked from the community, and answers: 

• Street Closures in Business Districts & Mask/Social Distance Mandates

• • Recommend meeting with higher level entities (City Manager, Mayor, Restaurant Association, Law Enforcement) as it will be a team effort to close streets for restaurant space. Everyone is responsible for following the mask and social distance order as stated in the Public Health Order, or be subject to citations. [Posted 7/15/2020]

• Public Health Order Updates

• • Stay connected to receive updates on the Public Health Order via the Business Sector telebriefing, joining the Business Sector email list, and tuning into the County of San Diego’s press briefings on Monday and Wednesday at 2:30 PM on social media. [Posted 7/15/2020]

• Current Stage on Resilience Roadmap & Closures

• • We are still in Stage Two of California’s Resilience Roadmap, and many things are still open like outdoor dining and indoor retails. If offices are non-essential, they must close and it is recommended that employees telework instead. [Posted 7/15/2020]
• Gathering Restrictions
  • Section two of the Public Health Order states that we are still under a no-gathering order. In addition, the state also issued a Statewide Public Health Order that does not allow gatherings of non-household members. [Posted 7/15/2020]
• Rental Spaces for Essential Meetings
  • Meetings are allowed for essential personnel if you can maintain safety measures but recommend providing other options, such as virtual meetings, where possible. [Posted 7/15/2020]

• Determining Factor to Reopen what has Closed
  • The Statewide Public Health Order does not have a time frame. When the County is taken off the Monitoring List, we will work fast to reopen businesses as quickly as we can. [Posted 7/15/2020]
• Non-Essential Offices
  • Recommend looking into state’s sector guidance for Offices and Critical Infrastructure guidance to determine if your office will need to close. [Posted 7/15/2020]
• Essential Businesses
  • Recommended to visit this page for list of essential businesses. [Posted 7/15/2020]

• Set-up tent for Outdoor Operations guidance
  • Statewide Public Health Order states that no more than one side of tent should be closed for outdoor operations. [Posted 7/15/2020]
• Break Rooms in Essential Businesses
  • Recommend to congregate areas for now or maintain safety protocols and encourage employees to take breaks outdoors. [Posted 7/15/2020]
• Swimming Pools
  • If a pool is indoors and part of a fitness facility, it must be kept closed. [Posted 7/15/2020]
• Personal Care Services Closure Time
  • State will determine when personal care services can reopen. [Posted 7/15/2020]

• Personal Care Services Performed Outdoors
  • Businesses will have to get approval from licensing entities to work outdoors. Letters of support are being sent to the state to ease restrictions. [Posted 7/15/2020]
• Retail Operations
  • Non-mall retail operations are still allowed to operate. Only indoor malls are not allowed to operate. [Posted 7/15/2020]

• Statewide Closure of Schools
  • Current guidance states that schools can reopen, but we are expecting updated reopening guidance from the state. [Posted 7/15/2020]
• Pet Grooming Services
  • Pet grooming services are not in the new Public Health Order so you can continue to operate. [Posted 7/15/2020]
• County Flexibility for more Local Control
  • The County has been requesting more local control. We will see at the next Board of Supervisors meeting if there will be additional inquiries for local control. [Posted 7/15/2020]
• Safe Reopening Plan for Essential Businesses
  • Essential Services were not required to post a Safe Reopening Plan since they were never closed. Recommend Essential Businesses to post Safe Reopening Plan to show they are following section 10 of the Public Health Order. [Posted 7/15/2020]
• Traveling to California/Quarantine
  • State is strongly discouraging non-essential travel. There is currently no need for an individual to self-quarantine after travelling unless they have travelled internationally to a country designed “Level 2”. Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers may report to work if they have notified their employer about close COVID-19 contact, have no symptoms of COVID-19, and wear appropriate personal protective equipment as required by their job/position. [Posted 7/15/2020]

• Non-Critical Medical Offices
  • There are no changes to Hospitals and Healthcare providers. If you were open before yesterday, you should be able to stay open. [Posted 7/15/2020]
• Laboratory Workplace
  • If the laboratory is tied to an essential service, they can continue to operate. If they are not, they will be required to close. [Posted 7/15/2020]

Websites/Resources mentioned:  

• Safe Reopening Page
• Statewide Public Health Officer Order
• CA Industry Guidance

• County of San Diego Triggers Dashboard
• County Variance Information

• Identifying Critical Infrastructure -
• Retail Guidance
• Updated Public Health Order
• Temporary Case Investigator Position
• COVID-19 and Convalescent Plasma Donation
• Social Distancing and Sanitation Protocol
• Updated COVID-19 Testing Guidance
• CDC Traveler’s Health Notices
• covid-businessquestions@sdcounty.ca.gov

 
 
We will be meeting again next Wednesday, July 22nd from 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM. To request resources, ask questions, or address concerns, please contact COVID-Business@sdcounty.ca.gov. 
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