Letter To Newsom Requests Looser Coronavirus Restrictions In El Dorado County, Additional Recreational Activities
EL DORADO COUNTY (CBS13) – El Dorado County officials sent a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom requesting looser coronavirus restrictions in the county and to allow additional recreation activities.
The letter was sent by the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors, public health officer, CEOs of Marshall Medical Center and Barton Health and the mayors of Placerville and South Lake Tahoe.
"El Dorado County residents have made significant sacrifices to ensure the level of COVID-19 remains low," said Board Chair Brian Veerkamp. "Coupled with the fact that a preponderance of businesses throughout the County is reliant upon tourism, we believe it is both possible and important that we be able to open more widely in a safe, reasonable manner."
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The letter says businesses in the county have already developed safety plans to help fight the spread of COVID-19 and "are awaiting guidelines to finalize them and be in a position to safely reopen."
Officials are requesting that the state health department "convene a workgroup with heavily tourism-focused counties" to develop guidelines allowing additional recreational activities and travel for residents.
Additional activities officials are seeking to gain permission to allow include things like backpacking, camping and white water rafting. Officials are also seeking to allow nonessential use of hotels and lodging and are asking state health officials to release a timeline for the issuance of future guidelines.