Bars, brewpubs, indoor dining, theaters and museums are all among the businesses required to shut down again, this time for three weeks, due to Monterey County exceeding key COVID-19 metrics.
Shortly after noon on Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced by Twitter that the county would be among several counties being asked by the state to close a variety of indoor and outdoor operations. Other counties mentioned by the governor included Colusa, Madera, Marin, Merced, and San Diego.
Also, the state Department of Public Health website on Monday showed the county was among those that had been on the state watch list for more than three days and thus subject to additional restrictions.
In response, county Health Officer Dr. Edward Moreno said during a county briefing that he had not yet been informed by the state that the county would be included in the business re-opening rollback list, but he said it wasn’t a “surprise” since the county had been added to a state Department of Public Health watch list last week for exceeding state COVID-19 indicators.
“We were worried about being on the watch list, and we knew it was possible we would have to shut down businesses,” Moreno said.
Moreno said he would reach out to state public health officials for details on Monday, including written guidance on when businesses would be required to shut down and how. He declined to comment further until that occurred.
State Department of Public Health officials indicated Monday the county had been placed on a “targeted engagement list” due to its “elevated disease transmission” and the state would be working with the county health department to set up strategy calls and provide technical assistance to address issues such as key actions to slow COVID-19 transmission.
In addition to the businesses already mentioned, wineries and tasting rooms, zoos, card rooms and family entertainment centers must also close.
The county was placed on the state watch list on Thursday last week for exceeding state indicators signifying an increased spread of the novel coronavirus, including the 14-day positive case rate and three-day average increase in hospitalizations. The state indicated that if the county remained on the watch list for three straight days then it would be required to close down certain businesses.
On Monday, the state public health website reported that the county’s 14-day positive case rate was at 112.3 per 100,000 population, above the state’s limit of 100 and its positivity rate was at 8.1%, just beyond the state’s 8% limit, while the county’s three-day average hospitalization increase had fallen below the state’s limit of 10.
Also Monday, the county reported a total of 2,151 confirmed cases out of 29,636 tests completed and 149 total hospitalizations, representing increases of 403 cases and 14 hospitalizations since Thursday. The county also reported on Monday its overall positivity rate rose to 7.26% from 6.51% on Thursday last week out of a total of 29,636 tests completed.
On Monday, the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History announced it would temporarily close its doors based on the county’s placement on the state watch list, apparently before Gov. Newsom’s announcement. The museum had just re-opened on June 29 last week after being closed for three months.
The Monterey Aquarium had planned to re-open next week, but has postponed its reopening “until further notice” in the wake of the county remaining on the state watch list according to a press release.
