The San Diego County Board of Supervisors recently approved a motion requiring the presentation of scientific data to back up COVID-19 enforcement for businesses and residents.
Supervisor Joel Anderson said the new policy should relieve restaurants and businesses of arbitrary enforcement.
“Moving forward enforcement would require that we post on our website the science that we are using to make these decisions, that it would be consistent and fairly applied, and that it would be published publicly before being enforced,” Anderson said.
Gerardo Ortiz and his wife Lisa have been owners of Nonno’s Ristorante Italiano in La Mesa for 23 years. He said current regulations are putting his business under serious financial stress.
“We’ve just been losing all the business. We've been trying to do carryout, delivery orders, but it's not enough,” Ortiz said.
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So far the business owner hasn’t laid off any of his six-person staff, but he recognizes his establishment is struggling without some form of in-person dining.
“The only thing we ask is just to let us do a little bit more business, either open the patio or the capacity in the restaurant," he said.
Anderson said the scientific data has now been published on the county website to justify COVID-19 enforcement.
“The bottom line though is transparency, science and consistency<' he said. "And I think that if we add that, more people are going to stay within the law and not try to break it."
With San Diego County’s updates to COVID-19 enforcement policies, Anderson hopes the state will look at enacting similar changes.
