Opening up businesses

Throughout our battle against COVID-19, my goal has always been to open more businesses and continue our momentum while keeping people safe, especially protecting those that are vulnerable. Over the last two weeks, we’ve seen our restaurants, retail businesses, hair salons and barbershops open safely, without any major spikes in coronavirus cases or capacity issues in hospitals. While our testing has increased, the percentages of positive tests have gone down and continues to trend down.

As I said last week, we must protect our most vulnerable. We’ve learned the vast majority of COVID-19 deaths are people with underlying circumstances. We’ve learned the median age of those who have died from coronavirus is 78. We’ve learned that 47% of San Diego county’s deaths are people in congregate care facilities. We have identified the highest risk groups in our population and we need to protect them as we open up the economy.

At our last San Diego Board of Supervisors meeting, I urged my colleagues to open more businesses back up, while protecting our most vulnerable. I’ve always looked at the board of supervisors as the balancing force between safety and the economy. Here was my motion:

I moved that we receive a presentation at our next board meeting focused on our most vulnerable populations and request staff present a plan for how San Diego County will protect the most vulnerable populations as we move forward with this virus.

I moved that the board take a position – it’s not an action because the board does not have the authority to make the decision – to do the following under established social distancing and safety protocols:

Request the county open beaches immediately for all activities including parking lots.

Send a letter to the governor under the chair’s signature stating we would like the following businesses open immediately: gyms, hotels, wineries, breweries, churches, theme parks, youth sports, charter and fishing boats, pools, museums and the remaining businesses in the pilot.

San Diegans have proven they’re willing to abide by the safety protocols and get back to work, let’s give the power back to the people and get San Diego back to work.