GOLF ALLOWED, RETAIL COMING SOON
Sherman R. Frederick, Marinscope
To get Marin’s commerce back up and running, the County of Marin has created about 16 groups designed to give the county fast input on different sections of the economy.
For example, before golf courses opened last week, a group of golf operators held Zoom meetings to plan out what exactly that would look like. Then the team leader of the golf group met with the public health officers to outline the plan.
Once the health officers give the plan a heads up, the rules for opening goes to the county for the final OK and then on to the county website for the public to see.
Max Corten, whose usual job is the director of Marin County Parks and Open Space director, has been pulled in to help coordinate the reopening process.
He explained that the groups representing different sectors of the economy, such as retail, restaurants, real estate, libraries, churches and construction, each have a lead person representing the group.
The lead person then incorporates five to eight more people to study best practices for opening their section.
“This way nobody has to wait for the whole process to complete,” Corten said. “Some groups are moving faster,” he added.
For example, retail has made fast progress and “we’re hoping that group can get quick approval for a reopening plan.”
The County has created an all-hands-on-deck mentality. He said the county in most cases is working on reopening with a time frame of days, not weeks.
“As soon as folks are ready, we want them to get approved.”
In other COVID-19 news:
— Marin County had four new cases reported last week. As of May 8, the county suffered 14 deaths due to the virus. A total of 261 cases have been reported countywide since the pandemic started.
— In California there have been 67,532 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 2,715 deaths.
— More than half of the states began reopening last week. COVID-19 cases nationwide increased last week, but hospital capacity held steady.
— In Marin residential care facilities, there have been 32 cases of COVID-19 total in patients and 27 cases with staff. There are currently 2 patients in Marin.
— The Marin Health Department is looking for volunteers. The website asks for licensed health care professionals to support contact investigations or clinical operations. For non-health care professionals, the greatest need is help at food banks and food distribution sites.
— Corte Madera Town Center stores received “pay up or default” letters from the mall’s attorney, the Independent Journal reported this week. The letter read: “We understand that these are trying times for all parties while we continue navigating this ongoing crisis in accordance with the governmentally imposed ‘shelter-in-place’ mandate. However, the tenant’s refusal to pay any rent is not acceptable.”
— France this week allowed younger students to return to school, while Spain has eased the country’s lockdown everywhere but Madrid and Barcelona, the Associated Press reported.
— Nightclubs in Seoul, South Korea, were closed again after dozens of cases cropped up stemming from the venues.
— The origin of coronavirus, Wuhan, China, reported five new cases this week.
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