New closures in light of COVID-19 spikes have resulted in tighter restrictions across the board for many California counties—San Diego included. Many are already frustrated with inconsistent policies in the county, and the threat of more closures will not fly with frustrated San Diegans.
County Supervisor Kristin Gaspar recently took to Facebook to speak out on this issue. “In March, it was ‘2 weeks to flatten the curve’, in April, we had the ‘Live Well: 30-Day Stay At Home Challenge’, May brought the ‘Month of Adaptation’ and ‘if you leave your place, cover your face’ campaign, in June, in collaboration with the Governor’s guidance and the Public Health Officer, we safely opened sectors of the economy,” Gaspar explained. “San Diegans have done a commendable job… but the virus rages and we will likely… see a pretty significant rollback in services like indoor dining.”
She proposes attacking this pandemic with a new strategy. We’ve already done a great job of adapting ourselves and our healthcare systems to COVID-19 regulations, but we cannot continue to toggle our economy on and off. Gaspar believes that public safety and a healthy economy are not mutually exclusive, and hopes that we can keep our economy open while protecting our most vulnerable population.
“We can no more turn our economy on and off than we can turn this virus on and off,” Gaspar added. “We need to figure out a way to live with both. THAT is the new normal.”
