South County cities have been increasing restrictions in response to rising COVID numbers. But head north, and it's a different story.
Some city and county leaders there want to let businesses reopen.
On Wednesday, the Oceanside City Council voted to demand the county allow it to decide when to reopen not only beaches, but also businesses. The motion to do that came from Councilman Chris Rodriguez.
"You can walk into a WalMart and buy clothes or get your tires changed. You should have the capacity to do anything that is similar. You can't go to a Kohl’s, why can't you go into a Kohl’s right now? Why can’t you buy a car right now?" Rodriguez said.
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The week before, a similar motion was voted down by the County Board of Supervisors. It came from Supervisor Kristin Gaspar, and was supported by Supervisor Jim Desmond.
“I think we can both follow the guidelines, fight the virus and get businesses back open,” Desmond told KPBS.
Acknowledging that we’re headed into a weekend with the kind of weather that makes people want to go outdoors, Supervisor Greg Cox began Friday's county briefing with a reminder that “unity is our strength.”
The county is using five federal guidelines to decide when to begin reopening. County public health officer Dr. Wilma Wooten said the county is only meeting three of those metrics right now.
But Supervisor Desmond said there’s a happy medium that should be met so the economic fallout doesn’t get even worse.
“I think we can take those same safety measures that have been put in place and expand them to some businesses, I think we should open up a few, you know, take the low-hanging fruit, some warehouse stores, you know some of the restaurants that have been the hardest hit, do the social distancing,” Desmond said.
But at Friday’s county news conference, Supervisor Nathan Fletcher said the county’s actions are saving lives, and he said it’s not just about one or two jurisdictions.
“We are an interconnected county, where people travel and people move and people go around and we also have an interconnected healthcare system,” Fletcher said.
As the weather warms and the disagreements between local officials mount, the toll coronavirus is taking on all of us is changing. But, one thing is clear. We’re in completely uncharted waters.
