Santa Cruz County may loosen shelter-in-place restrictions after May 3
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, Calif. (KION) Santa Cruz county may lift some of its shelter-in-place restrictions when the current order ends.
County health officer Dr. Gail Newel said Thursday, lifting restrictions will be a very delicate process.
“It's going to be a long process and restrictions are going to need to be lifted very carefully and slowly a bit at a time,” Newel said.
Newel, along with 13 other health officers in the larger Bay Area and the city of Berkeley, is outlining the new less restrictive plan.
Landscapers, gardeners and outside construction workers will likely be able to return to work in May. Golf courses may re-open along with small businesses that can maintain social distancing.
“You can use your imagine around what could be accomplished while still maintaining the social distancing requirements, then you can imagine what might be allowed to open,” Newel said.
Summer child care is also being considered by the county health officer. The Belmont Riding School on the campus of Monte Vista School in Watsonville offers a camp four weeks over the summer.
“I think everyone's just waiting to see what happens,” owner of Belmont Riding School Cassie Belmont said.
Belmont said they'd normally have their camps fully booked for the summer, but it's still unclear to what capacity they'll be able to hold the camps.
“Perhaps not doing the overnight bit of the summer cap, because the kids would be together. [We're doing] all the sanitation and bleaching the place, and keep people further apart,” Belmont said.
Dr. Newel said it will be important to have summer child care if possible.
“It's something we’ve spent a lot of time talking about. As the school year ends, even though the schools have been dismissed, the child care problems will continue over the summer,” Newel said.
Final decisions on the new shelter-in-place order have not been made. The current shelter-in-place ends on May 3.
Watch Santa Cruz County's news conference here.
