9.9.2020 FB Live Briefing transcript

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Larry Little: Hi everybody! Thank you for joining us. I'm Larry Little. As we learned yesterday the County's risk level went from
purple to red on the state's county activity status tier system. Betty Doung is here to tell us what it means and what all of us can do to get us to the next level, at a better level, but, first want to let you know prior to this segment, we remove our facial covering, so everyone including the American Sign Language interpreters can clearly and properly communicate the information that we will be sharing this morning. Good morning, Betty!

Betty Duong: Good morning, Larry. Thank you for having me here today and thank you everyone for taking time out of your day to join us for this Facebook live briefing. Hopefully, we can bring some really useful information and clarity to um to the news that's already been put out there yesterday.

LL: So let's begin with, the County had been at the purple tier which is widespread, and we moved to red now. Can you share just what it means and then touch on what businesses will be allowed to resume operations?

BD: Thank you, Larry. So you know, as Larry mentioned, the red tier we are in the red tier now as of 1:30 pm yesterday red is also categorized as substantial spread, so we still are in a zone of heightened concern and awareness. Not the highest concern here but is still, still substantial, um as as its namesake goes. So we're not out of the danger zone, and we still need everyone to be on high alert. We also need to be on high alert and vigilant of our surroundings, vigilant of the social distancing protocols, and how we interact with each other, and how we engage one another when patronizing our favorite businesses. So you know, with this red tier it does mean that more businesses are allowed to resume operations. Some are allowed to resume indoor operations, um i think of note our nail salons are able to join our hair salons indoors now, so moving there, you know, and that doesn't mean that they don't provide outdoor services anymore. I think we've seen the last 24 hours a lot of nail salons are opting to do both, to offer both indoor services and outdoor services for patrons who prefer the additional safety and security of having outdoor services. I just want to thank all of our nail salons for being flexible and pivoting their business operations to be able to do that. Gyms and fitness centers are allowed to resume indoor operations at 10 capacity, um which is you know illustrative of where our local county um order differs from the State order. There are some key differences that we're going to talk about a bit more. Massage services, um and you know, and other additional service such as that are able to resume within the county's guidelines. um You know our guidance here at the local level is guided by three core principles, so those three core principles are face coverings, how can we operate with face coverings um in place at all times; the second core principle is um is is social distancing, how we can operate our businesses and activities in a way that facilitates social distancing protocol, um proper social distancing between all customers, patrons and workers; and also the third, you know, finally the third core principle is that outdoor will always be safer than indoors with respect to COVID. I know that the air quality has been tough for us and it still is in a an a healthy state today, but you know as far as COVID goes, um the the the rate of transmission is going to be much lower when we're able to be outdoors with constant air circulation. So with those three core principles guiding our local restrictions and guidance, it's going to affect different industries a little differently, so I want to just let everybody know, I want to give a shout out to our estheticians or electrologists or you know, because you know services to the face and services where the face-covering must be removed are still prohibited. And you know I just want to I just want to let you all know you know our appreciation for your continued partnership with us to develop um suitable alternatives to operations, and also for you know continuing to abide by the health order. I know that it's been rough for a lot of folks, but we are in constant communication, I want to appreciate that. So we are continuing to monitor the status of COVID in our community. We continue to work with city and state leadership and small business advocacy groups and industry leaders to make sure that you know we are seeking suitable alternatives to operations. We are working to identify whatever resources can be made available to our small businesses to have really felt the impact the economic impact of our coveted response. And you know um again just want to appreciate all the businesses who have been in compliance, abiding by the social distancing protocol, changing their business operations, changing their of their models. We've been working with a lot of restaurant owners, and you know they've, I've heard about restaurant owners like changing their menus to be more um more more more friendly more takeout friendly, dining out friendly. um you know um so i just want to appreciate that everyone has pivoted and changed the landscape, um you know change change in accordance with the changing landscape of COVID in our community with all the different orders that have come through, and you know. So i just really want to appreciate you all out there.

LL: Yeah so let's talk about, because everything we do here is guided by science, so indoor restaurant, indoor eating indoors is out of the question at this time, also there are some other restrictions that won't allow some businesses to resume operations, Could you share a little bit about that?

BD: Sure and before we go into that, I just want to just put out there that you know the state's framework is the "floor not the ceiling." What that means is that what the state puts out is the bare minimum for the whole state. You know we are a very diverse state. Our county is very unique, you know we're we we're home to san jose which is the third largest city in the state, 10th largest city in the country, so what the state's framework does is that it provides a template for us to build on top of, build restrictions and build our guidance on top of, um that's that's that's a that reflects the unique nature of our county our demographic our diversity. We are an international hub of technology and commerce, so we wanna ... so our rules are gonna look a little different. Just by the very nature of of what our county is and and all the things that make our county special. um so you know I wanna you know with to answer your question, um you know where our local order differs from the state order, is that we still do not allow for indoor dining, we do not allow for indoor gathering, we do not allow for large gatherings, so you know by default this is going to affect you know um worship services, it's going to affect restaurants that can't allow indoor dining, um and you know we we that's where we really want to promote um practicing at a distance, virtual, going for the virtual option whenever it's available, whenever it's possible, um really focusing on like outdoor services, where social distancing is is as facilitated as possible, and you know face coverings are always or must always be in place as much as possible.

LL: So let's talk about school openings because that one's very tricky and that's why it's very important that what we do going forward will determine if schools will be allowed to reopen because we have to be in this red tier for 14 days.

BD: Yeah, according to the state's framework, we must be in the reds here for 14 days before we could even consider the possibility of
indoor learning. Again, this the state framework is the floor not the ceiling, that decision of whether we resume indoor classes, indoor learning or not, is really is really up to the specific districts, the school districts and you know they need to monitor and you know decide for themselves, you know based on on what their community looks like and where where their where their risks are if this is something they can move on move on with. Districts do have the the option to opt out of indoor learning, so even if the state does allow it, after a certain amount of time, the districts do have they they do have the leeway to to be to not opt in, to just say that's not something that we can move forward with at our district at this time.

LL: Yeah so let's let's i know you covered this before but let's just touch on it again, where you said uh because a lot of people are asking well the state is allowing this for the red tier but that doesn't apply in our county health orders.

BD: Yeah, um you're going to get sick of me saying this that you know the purpose of our Facebook live briefing is to share information um you know, and share it repetitively, share it clearly and consistently. The the state's framework is the bare minimum of what we're allowed to do. No county, no two counties are alike in the State of California. The Santa Clara County is is an international hub. We have we have a large population. We have a lot of industry. We have a lot of commerce. We have a lot of small businesses here; it's what makes our county special, and you know because of that landscape, we do have to adjust accordingly to make sure that COVID is limited, the spread of COVID is limited for our counties here. So our, I think um for for now, for the foreseeable future, just because of how our county, with the makeup of our county is that we're going to always be a little different from the state, and yet at the same time the rule has always been that between the state and the county whichever of the stricter protocols our requirements will be the controlling requirement.

LL: So we've been talking about testing here for several months now and we've opened testing locations all over the county and now we're finding that testing is going to be very important in lifting some of the restrictions and going forward.

BD: yeah.

LL: Do you want to share a little bit about that?

BD: Thank you, Larry. So the state's framework uses two um two metrics, two main metrics um in balance with one another, so the first metric is the the number of positive cases per 100,000 of the population, and the second metric is the number of positive test results against the number of tests taken. So basically the more tests we administer, the more tests we take, the better our numbers are going to look.

LL: yeah.

BD: It's going to look better in terms of like you know being the the denominator for the number of positive test results we get in, but it's also going to be better because the moment we know that someone's COVID positive, we can activate the COVID-19 support team, The COVID-19 support team will provide housing assistance, temporary housing, if that's what that's what you need, assistance with groceries, assistance with getting you the proper health care and medical services, and ... and they're just a phenomenal team that's there to to wrap themselves, you know to wrap our services around you to make sure that you get better;  number one you get better, and number two, we limit the spread. We stop the spread where it is.

LL: So i want to be clear, we're red now?

BD: We're right now.

LL: The next step is to hopefully go to orange, but there is a possibility if we don't do what we should as a county we could go back to the purple correct?

BD: Yes, correct. There's always a possibility for us to go back to purple, and you know it's a it it comes down to again us, all businesses having a social distancing protocol, everybody wearing their face coverings, everybody abiding by the social discipline protocol, everybody taking really good care of yourself. You know monitor your health. Check on your coworkers. If there are symptoms, you must isolate right away. um you know if you work at a job that that that exposes you regularly to members of the public, if you rely on public transportation, if you're just out and about, um because the nature of your job or you know the activities that you participate in, um limit where you can, and get tested. I mean our our guidance here is that for all essential workers, you want to get tested at least once a month. That's the bare minimum, right? So trust me, we're not going to be mad if you're getting tested every other week or you're getting tested after you know you know a day at the job and you realize there was a lot more foot traffic than normal today and there may be some moments where i may have been you know may have been a little bit more um at more risk for exposure. If you have a feeling, just go get tested, and we try to make it as easy as possible. um sccfreetest.org is where you can find all of our testing resources. We we have the fairgrounds testing site which can accommodate up to 5,000 test takers per day! You can drive through, you can walk up, you can even ride your bike through. We're a huge bike community here, so if you want to ride your bike through, you don't even have to get off the seat and they'll still test you.

LL: So I, testing is very important, and I was saying, we don't want to go back we don't want to go back to purple. I don't know if, Jeff you can zoom in here, uh it is a privilege to actually be in the red tier, i mean it's not the best. here.

BD: it's not the best.

LL: but if you look at the state here, mostly everyone is in purple right now.

BD: yeah and that's really a it's it's really a testament to the residents of our county. The residents of our county, our business leaders, our our community leaders have really answered the call and really supported one another and adopting best practices; making sure that everyone's wearing face coverings, washing hands, keeping your distance, changing your way of life to be as virtual and remote as possible, and you know i just want to, on behalf of the county, thank you. Thank you for all the great work that you've done. I think you know probably a lot of you are at work right now, and you know with what the new business is allowed to resume. Hopefully you know for those who are at work, this could play back just thank you for all the work that you've done to help us make enough gains to get this far, but we still have a long ways to go. I know we can get there. Our county residents have shown time and time again that you know we've got what it takes to flatten this curve, and to or make you know make gains and strides against it, so i know we're going to get there.

LL: yeah we've been very diligent in being concise about disseminating information to the community, but there are times there have been so many changes that people can get confused. You know we were open for two days, then the state closed everything down, so what can businesses do uh for to find out more information like, what should my business; be doing or what forms i need to fill out; or if people have concerns about COVID and they want to make a report?

BD: i would say the first website you should check out is as always the county's coronavirus website sccgov.org/coronavirus. It is the most comprehensive um website we, everything we've got we put it up there, so you know i think what that does too is that creates a bit of an information overload. you know it's a it's a i feel like it's a fun site to navigate, but it does require a little time. We're working on fixing that on revising the website to make it a lot more easier to navigate because there's just so much information. Another website you can go to is scccovidconcerns.org. That's a portal specifically for businesses, for patrons of businesses, by going to that site, you can easily find out what is required of your business. All businesses operating are required to, number one, have a social distinct protocol on file submitted, and number two, adhere you must adhere to the industry specific ... man industry, see ... i'm so sorry, the industry specific um directives, that has been created for your for your industry. Those are mandatory. They're not guidance, they're actually the requirements of operations. so you can go to scovccovidconcerns.org and see what is required of your business. how to submit a social distancing protocol, and also too as as a patron or as an employee, if you have a concern about a certain business or a particular establishment that may not be complying with all the requirements of the social distancing protocol or not applying best practices as advised by the county, you could definitely like lodge your concern at scccovidconcerns.org, and we take an education first approach here. We don't you know it's not that the moment we get a concern we're out there trying to penalize or find people. We know that we are still in the curve of education. We're still in the phase of promoting and making sure everyone has access to this information, so if there is a concern somewhere, by sharing with us we send an education team out first. We have language. We have ... our education team members are fluent in multiple languages. We want to provide support. We could do demonstrations on appropriate face coverings. We can even help measure the floors and tape them up too. So our team is there to help, and we take an education first approach, so please don't be shy about using cscccovidconcerns.org to share you know your feedback, to let us know if there are businesses that could use a little extra help.

LL: And they can also call our business call centers. BD: absolutely and i'm going to make sure i get the number right so i'm going to look down my notes 408-961-5500. I love talk. i mean as you can see, i love talking. a little bit you know i i i you know i ... i feel like sometimes a phone call is much easier, right, than going through a website, or i like to do a combination of the both, you know i've had a lot of we've had a lot of business um business owners and managers and workers call in and they're cert they're they're on our site at the same time they're on the phone, with our business or a business call center. So don't be shy, give us a call. We do we are language accessible, so just give us a call, so that we could we could provide support in any way that we can. Because i think this cooperation, that that has been so i think it's been successful so far, yes and and as evidenced by our move to the red tier. As a very large county being moved into the red tier, that that is a testament to to everything that we've done as a community. So our resources are here. Please call us. I know you're not shy, you know so our our team is on standby.

LL: absolutely and i know a lot of people are expecting you know, myself, i looked at the gym's website last night, thinking why aren't they open, yet. They can open. they can open, but a lot of times people are getting prepared with all the changes. people are getting
prepared and making sure that they're  following the guidelines to keep the community safe any closing thoughts?

BD: any closing thoughts? be be safe. be healthy be well. be and be in compliance with our our industry-specific guidelines. um customers look for this for the COVID prepared sign. when entering a business, that's that sign, that big check mark that says we're covered prepared should be at the front of uh of the entrance, so that when you walk in, you know that they have a plan in place, and take a look, just pause for a moment and look at their plan, because it should be posted right next to the check mark. how many people are allowed in the store. um that's what it should identify. what kind of protocols has this business um taken up to ensure your safety and the safety of their workers. i think those are like my big talking points. just um continue collaboration with one another, cooperation, take care of one another, and take care of yourself. We'll get through this and get to that next tier.

LL: Absolutely. Thank you so much, Betty. I don't know what's up with the the faded yellow skies this morning.

BD: oh my goodness um yes, there uh our our air level is um floating around the unhealthy phase.

LL: yeah very unhealthy.

BD: you know our hearts go out to all those who are impacted by the fires, are that are just raging through the the state, and and up and down the west coast right now. so i know that you know our emergency operations center here is now a both a covid and fire operations with our county office of emergency management providing a lot of mutual aid to other jurisdictions. so a big shout out and appreciation to all of our firefighers, our first line responders, and to the staff of the county's office of emergency management. um i hope the be safe everyone and check yourself. you know, if this air ... it looks it, it does not look like we typically see.

LL: very unhealthy sensitive groups, but you know what there's a silver lining and we will get a break from the heat today.

BD: well yeah there is a bit of a marine layer mixed in with them with the, the particulates in the air right now, so we do get a break from the heat but you know continue to monitor yourself. if you start feeling you know some dizziness, some some difficulty or you know with breathing, discomfort, please you know um be aware, be wary. the air may be cooler, but the the air is still is still unhealthy, so you may need to close your windows and doors back up again and turn your air filters on if you have them to uh to take care of yourself.

LL: yes. all right thanks so much. Facebook live in Spanish comes up at 11 o'clock and on Thursday's Facebook live in Vietnamese at 10 a.m Thanks for watching. Everyone take care of yourselves. Be well. We'll see you next time.

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