Orange County Removed from California’s COVID-19 Watchlist
By Faiza Zia Khan
Newport Beach, CA
Finally, the long awaited good news has made its way towards Orange County (OC) residents. Recently, the OC was unfrozen from the state-mandated monitoring watchlist for counties with extreme COVID-19 cases.
California had previously frozen its watchlist due to glitches in the state’s database and was receiving severely skewed metrics used to track the pandemic nationally. This certainly is a step in the right direction as numbers are trending towards meeting public health goals set by the state. Positive markers include measuring fewer cases of new hospitalizations, less community transmissions, and negative test results in the past few weeks.
Government health officials hit the pause button for 38 California counties and worked around the clock to comb out errors that were feeding incorrect data to the Electronic Disease Reporting and Surveillance System (CalREDIE). Before they even knew what happened a massive inaccurate backlog of 295,000 coronavirus test results flooded the system. Now that they have been able to fix the system issues we are looking better in terms of the shift in numbers towards the right direction.
Despite this small but significant progress the Department of Health’s government officials have strictly reminded residents that the health order reinforced on July 13 is still in effect. Conflicting information has caused confusion and concern amongst the OC residents. In the letter of the law as stated on California’s COVID-19 website, a county’s removal from the watchlist does not mean life is back to normal. It also does not mean any restrictions have been removed and shuttered places are allowed to reopen. This order closed down yet again all indoor places such as malls, gyms, hair/beauty/nail salons, and inside dining-in restaurants. Until such time that this health order is revisited and updated no changes have happened that allow unrestricted movements for residents. It is very much possible that the county could be back on the list if it raises red flags for even slightly exceeding any one of the designated metrics for three consecutive days. Does this mean it is the proverbial calm before the storm?
California’s Governor Newsom has been teasing the idea that there might be changes coming in the next few weeks. What those changes would look like heavily depends on how the situation evolves. The OC residents are keeping a close eye as the warm weather entices having outdoor picnics and gatherings. We are already entering the fall phase of the year as September is upon us. Soon the weather will turn cooler and the flu season will be upon us. All of these factors ask for greater caution so we don’t tread the treacherous path of going back in reverse. Restaurants and hair salons have adapted to the health order by curb-side pick-ups, outdoor dining, and open air haircuts. Local events have also found creative ways to entertain OC residents. The OC Fair (an Orange County highlight event) in Costa Mesa is offering a drive-thru food event for the regular connoisseurs such as the Hawaiian orange bowls, dragon fruit pineapple lemonades, cheese dogs on a stick, and cookie sundaes that are available only during the fair season on the fairgrounds.
A unique pickup system has been devised for the frequent fair patrons who await these food specialties all year round. The OC fair has been temporarily shut down due to social distancing guidelines but customers are able to get their fix and satisfy their cravings by following the special ordering system. All customers will have to lineup and order through a designated lane, must remain in their vehicles, and wear masks at all times. Vendors will come to the vehicles to take orders and contactless payment methods are accepted only. No walk-ups or walk-ins are allowed and food will be delivered to the car in to-go packages only. All parking lots are closed and no cars will be allowed to stay on the fairgrounds after they have picked up their orders. This shows the spirit of OC residents is still alive and they are striving towards achieving a better result in reducing COVID-19 cases.
More pleasant news followed for parents of students attending K-12 schools. If the OC manages to remain off the list for 14 consecutive days without failing any of the desired metrics this could potentially mean the schools will reopen for in-person classes. Amongst those California counties that received approval to resume on campus education is the Los Alamitos Unified School District. Some parents breathed obvious sighs of relief whereas some remained extremely cautious and opted to keep their children home for the next few weeks until more concrete results came out. Similarly, another school in San Bernardino County got the waiver approved for permission to let students come into the campus for classes. However, before the news was announced it was made clear to students and parents alike that this will not be a normal back-to-school reopening. The school has implemented a hybrid model that will allow only a fixed percentage of students to interchangeably attend in-person classes with strict six feet social distancing set up, masks on their faces, and frequent hand washing/sanitizing. There was no physical contact allowed such as the customary hugs and playground sports the kids were used to in the pre-COVID-19 era. Parents were not allowed to accompany their younger children to the classrooms or enter the school building. Teachers brought the students in one by one after their hands were sanitized and they had to be standing six feet apart at all times. Even though all these measures felt strange at first it is necessary to follow these guidelines as our own OC students head back to campuses for live classes for our safety and survival!
(Faiza Zia Khan holds a Master’s in Journalism degree from the University of British Columbia, Canada. She has collaborated with news media outlets, including Global National, and actively volunteers for several community investment projects for the Red Cross, United Way and the Breast Cancer Foundation)
