What Newsom’s lifting of COVID stay-home order means for Merced County businesses

A decision Monday by state leaders to lift a regional stay-at-home order for the San Joaquin Valley, as well as two other major parts of the state, means that restaurants in Merced County can immediately resume outdoor dining, while barbers and hairstylists can start cutting hair indoors once again.

Instead of sweeping restrictions on many types of business operations aimed at reducing the spread of the novel coronavirus and easing a surge of cases putting a strain on hospitals, Valley counties will now revert back to a system of color-coded tiers for business reopening based on the prevalence of new COVID-19 infections and the assessed risk of transmitting the virus in the community.

Fresno, Kings, Madera, Merced and Tulare counties will resume their status in purple Tier 1 of the state’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy. Tier 1 is the most restrictive of the four levels, representing “widespread” risk of spreading the virus. But it does allow restaurants to immediately be able to offer outdoor dining.

Under the stay-at-home order that’s been in effect in the San Joaquin Valley since December, eateries have been limited to take-out or delivery service only – although some businesses have defied the order and served meals to customers for on-site dining.

Hair salons, nail salons and barber shops, which were to have been closed under the stay-home order, will be able to resume their services indoors. Retail stores can expand their capacity somewhat, increasing from 20% under the regional order to 25% under the purple tier.

Merced County businesses owners said although they are happy the shelter-in-place order was lifted, the current situation is still tough.

Alejandro Trevino, manager of Trevino’s on West Main Street, says not allowing indoor dining continues to hurt business. Trevino said before the shelter-in-place order had taken effect last month, his business had purchased heaters and tents.

“If you do outside dining, you’re still only limited to six tables — and to go orders hasn’t really been doing it,” he said.

“(The lifting of the order) is that start of something, but at the end of the day I think what we would like is at least minimum 25% capacity to be able to accommodate those who are comfortable eating inside, and still have outside seating for those who are willing to eat outside.”

Justin Shen, owner of ASIP Coffee Roasters in downtown Merced, said the shelter-in-place order also made things difficult for his business.

Shen said if people cannot sit down and enjoy a cup of specialty coffee, it “lost the vibe” that his business is based on. Plus, switching to a “grab and go” model isn’t the same as the atmosphere of having coffee in a cafe.

“With the stay at home order removed, I hope people can come back to us and enjoy the drink,” he said.

He also had to change over from traditional coffee mugs to only to-go cups and items. “For a specialty shop like us it’s quite tough, because it’s sort of lost the fun,” Shen said.

Lifting the order comes at a time when Merced County and neighboring Valley counties are farther than ever from being able to move from purple Tier 1 into the less-restrictive red Tier 2, denoting “substantial” risk of viral transmission in the community.

Surge of new deaths, cases continues

Merced County’s Department of Public Health reported seven new deaths and 527 new confirmed coronavirus infections on Monday. The last time the department reported data was Monday.

Three of those who died were women and four were men. One person was between ages 35 and 49, two were between ages 50 and 64, and the others were age 65 or older. At least five of those people who died had underlying health conditons.

That brings the total number of deaths reported since March in Merced County to 331, and total cases to 25,575.

There are 54 Merced County residents hospitalized due to the virus -- an increase of 10 patients since Friday.

There are currently 3,229 cases estimated to be active — a drop in 313 cases.

Merced County currently has a positivity rate of 13.6 percent, meaning the level of people among those who’ve been tested who had a positive result. That is a 1.1 percent drop from Friday.

Vaccinations continue

The county’s Department of Public Health announced this week it’s hosting two additional vaccinations clinics, according to a news release.

To determine eligibility and receive future vaccination notifications, visit www.vaccinatemercedcounty.com. Anyone who doesn’t have access to a computer or internet can call (209) 381-1180.

Officials said 1,392 residents were successfully vaccinated last week in Los Banos and Merced.

A total of 800 doses will be split between those two sites this week and additional allocations will be provided to eligible Merced County healthcare providers to administer.

County officials said the state provided a smaller allocation of doses last week. Local officials say they are advocating for a higher allocation of doses in coming weeks, the release said.

Those currently eligible to receive the vaccine include all categories in Phase 1A along with individuals 65 years and older.

This story was originally published January 25, 2021 at 5:28 PM.