Written by Michael Palomba
According to San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher and Public Health Officer Dr. Wilma Wooten, it’s time to “sound the alarm” as the county’s future case rate begins to cross into the dreaded purple tier.
The state has devised a four-tier system for reopening—purple, red, orange, and yellow—with purple being the worst tier and yellow being the best. For the past few weeks, San Diego County has maintained its position in the red tier, but as people begin to get out of the house, the case rate is rising.
From https://covid19.ca.gov/safer-economy/
The latest data show that San Diego County’s adjusted case rate is higher than the 7 per 100,000 people set forth in the purple tier. What this means is that if San Diego’s case rate remains higher than 7 per 100,000 people for two consecutive weeks, the county will have to revert back to the purple tier.
The consequences of moving back a tier are significant. Retail shops and malls will have their capacity reduced to 25% and all food courts will be ordered closed. Further, gyms, restaurants, movie theaters, places of worship, and personal care services will be forced to move their operations outdoors. On top of all that, schools will be required to stay closed and so will almost all “non-essential” businesses—at least for indoor operations.
Not only will these restrictions hurt our quality of life for the foreseeable future, but they will also stifle the economy at a time when unemployment is through the roof. This is not what we need right now.
One state that I feel is especially beneficial to look to is Florida. Gov. Ron DeSantis is moving full steam ahead in removing these kinds of restrictions and ending the lockdowns. As of a month ago, he removed all COVID-related restrictions in an effort to help the state get back on its feet.
“Every business has the right to operate,” DeSantis said, “Some of the locals can do reasonable regulations. But you can’t just say no.”
While Florida is allowing its citizens to return to normalcy, Gov. Gavin Newsom and the tyrannical State Legislature are forcing counties into shutdowns that will only make it harder for us to recover.
So, this will likely be our last two weeks of dining out and enjoying life as much as we can in the red tier. Take advantage of it while you can because once we revert back to the purple tier, there’s no telling how long we will stay there.
