Supervisor David Canepa of San Mateo County reminded county residents to follow guidelines issued by state, county and city officials designed to combat the wide spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the community in a July 2020 newsletter sent out by his office.
Canepa, who represents District 5, said that the recent order by California Governor Gavin Newsom is a step back for the county, which was granted a variance in June based on its capacity to handle new cases.
Gov. Newsom this week ordered statewide mandated shutdown of the following services, which includes San Mateo County: dine-in restaurants (indoors), wineries and tasing rooms (indoors), movie theatres (indoors), family entertainment centers (indoors), zoos and museums (indoors), cardrooms (indoors), and brewpubs, breweries, bars and pubs (indoors and outdoors).
However, the following establishments may remain open in the county as it is not in the county watchlist established by the state: fitness centers, places of worship, offices for non-critical sectors, personal care services, salons and barbershops, and malls.
“My heart breaks for the small business owners who are paying the price for the surge in coronavirus cases. But the data is clear – when hospitalizations go up, the dimmer switch goes down. This is a result of individuals not respecting very simple rules: Wear your masks! Wash your hands! Practice social distancing! Until we can all take personal responsibility to stop the spread of this disease, more people will die. This is about saving lives!,” Supervisor Canepa said in the newsletter.
He further said: “Before Newsom ordered the statewide shutdown, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution I co-sponsored with Supervisor Warren Slocum urging face covering compliance and directing staff to develop a community outreach plan.”
“If you don’t wear a face mask and practice social distancing during this pandemic, then you are putting the entire community at risk of the deadly COVID-19 virus. I’m not interested in putting anyone in jail but there must be some consequences to violating this order. We are developing the community outreach plan to urge compliance but if that doesn’t work we may have to take it a step further and start fining people,” Canepa added.
In another development related to COVID-19, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors has created a $2 million relief fund for immigrants economically impacted by the coronavirus during its July 7 meeting.
The county’s $2M contribution will be accompanied by a $5.2 million grant from Sobrato Philanthropies and another $1.7 million from private and nonprofit partners. It is expected to support around 9,000 individuals financially impacted by the pandemic.
More information about the fund can be found at http://missionassetfund.org/immigrant-families-grant-sm/.
Meanwhile, Supervisor Canepa will be hosting a 5:30 p.m. virtual town hall on Wednesday, July 22 to discuss the impact that COVID-19 has had on its public schools. Panelists for the town hall include Daly City Mayor Glenn Sylvester and Colma Mayor John Goodwin.
“With Gov. Gavin Newsom saying that decisions on opening schools in the fall should be made locally based on state and county guidance, the state is expected to release new guidance related to masks, contact sports, choir, school bussing and addressing children’s social and emotional needs during distance learning,” Supervisor Canepa said. “We must do all that we can to protect the students, teachers and staff at our schools. Whether distance learning continues or a hybrid version of in-class instruction is developed will be part of the conversation.”
Those wishing to attend the town hall are asked to register with Tony Bayudan by emailing him at [email protected] or by calling (650) 270-7485. Questions for the panelists can be submitted to https://forms.gle/LXeBEsjpXQ6G14BGA. (Joseph Peralta/AJPress)
