County and Danville officials talk COVID-19 economic impacts and issues with doubles tennis

On Friday, Danville and Contra Costa County officials hosted an online community meeting to answer the community’s questions relating to the county’s health officer order.

All meeting participants recognized the negative economic impact of the County Health Officer Order. “I know people are concerned; they’re frustrated about it, and I hear that,” said Contra Costa County Supervisor Candace Anderson.

Supervisor Anderson described the hierarchy of the county’s health order in relation to the governor’s, “The orders of the governor should supersede the county.” However, she emphasized that county orders can be different than the governor’s.

“As something that I would like to point out, I do not make these orders,” Supervisor Anderson said. She explained that during a state of emergency, county health officers have the authority to publish orders and modify them as needed.

Contra Costa County Deputy Health Officer Dr. Ori Tzvieli said that his agency is using five criteria for evaluating risk. He acknowledged that county-wide numbers for hospitalizations and hospital capacity were positive. “If it was just those two [indicators], we would probably be opening up more,” Dr. Tzvieli said. However, he conceded the county has not sufficiently satisfied the other three indicators: testing, PPE supply, and contact tracing.

Dr. Tzvieli added the county would like to increase testing by six times to satisfy their criteria. When asked what contact tracing would entail, he described it as an “army” of approximately 200 staff and would involve IT systems. Supervisor Anderson said that tech companies are interested in partnering with county health officials to conduct contact tracing, but citizens’ privacy would have to be balanced. With regard to loosening of restrictions, Dr. Tzvieli said, “you can think of things being loosened in sort of one-month increments more or less.”

Danville Police Chief Allan Shields described the confidence he has gained during conversations with members of town’s business community, “When we say ‘go,’ they are absolutely ready to go… they’re ready to go in a way that’s gonna keep their staff safe and keep their customers safe.”

Chief Shields also addressed a recent uptick in local crime, reaffirming his department’s commitment to policing, “If you’re someone out there that’s wanting to do harm during this pandemic, do not come to Danville because our officers are prepared… I don’t want anyone out there that’s listening to this to think for a moment that there has been a breakdown in that part of the system.”

He added the town has received over 300 complaints related to health order violations. Chief Shields described his conversations with struggling residents, “they want to support their family, pay their bills, keep their homes, and keep their businesses. This is very real to them.” He also thanked residents for their cooperation and compliance in regard to the health order.

Chief Shields encouraged residents to follow the spirit of the health order and use common sense, “We are not going onto tennis courts and verifying IDs for what household you belong to.” He emphasized the intent of the order is not to drive residents stir-crazy, “In one case, a mother told us that she kept her kids in the house for thirty days straight… it just really broke my heart because that is not the intent of the order,” Chief Shields said.

Supervisor Anderson was asked a question by a resident about whether tennis would be permitted. She answered that a game of singles would be in compliance with the health order, but likely not a game of doubles, unless the pair was from the same household. She also advised against sharing equipment like tennis rackets, but added that balls have minimal contact because most people don’t spit or sweat on them.

Another resident asked the county officials about when salons would open. Dr. Tzvieli said he was hopeful they would be allowed in June, but explained that it would depend on the five criteria mentioned previously.

Danville’s Vice Mayor Lisa Blackwell closed by saying that she recognizes the financial hardship the county health order is causing but explained the alternative could cause economic damage, “if we blow this public health issue, our economy will not be doing well at all, and we’ve got to do it slow and steady.”

Both Danville and San Ramon have established resources for assisting local businesses (see hyperlinks).