New County Health Mandates and Recommendations - COVID-19
The Government Affairs committee shares news about the County's updated public health orders
Thursday, August 6, 2020
by: Contributed by Craig Benedetto, Legislative Advocate

Section: COVID-19 Updates




Employee & Customer Notifications -

The County of San Diego updated their public health orders on Wednesday, July 29th and included a new requirement related to businesses identified as the potential location for a community outbreak.  A community outbreak is defined as three or more person testing positive for COVID-19 within a 14-day period. 

Under the new order, the business will NOW be required to notify all employees AND customers.  Previously, the business was asked to notify those employees likely to have been in close proximity. In addition, there is a strong recommendation” to do the same if there is only one positive test of someone in the workplace. This new requirement is now in effect.  For more information, please go to the County’s COVID-19 webpage at https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/coronavirus.html.
 
Return to Work Requirements - Based on new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the County of San Diego has updated their health order and no longer recommends that employers require employees who tested positive for COVID-19 to be tested again before they can return to work. People with COVID-19 who have mild to moderate symptoms and were directed to care for themselves at home may discontinue isolation under the following conditions:

 
  • At least 10 days have passed since symptoms began, have not had a fever for 24 hours without taking fever-reducing medications and other symptoms have resolved.
  • A limited number of people who have a severe or critical illness or are severely immunocompromised are recommended to wait 20 days after symptoms developed and one day after fever resolution and improving symptoms.
  • People who are severely immunocompromised but have no symptoms can leave isolation after 20 days after testing positive.
  • People who tested positive for the novel coronavirus but never developed symptoms can stop isolation and other precautions 10 days after the date of their first diagnostic positive test virus.
 
City of San Diego - Rent Repayment and Evictions
 
Rent Repayment Timeline Extended – The San Diego City Council voted narrowly on Tuesday, July 28th to extend the repayment period for both residential and commercial tenants who fall under the Citys eviction moratorium ordinance and are accruing unpaid rent to December 31, 2020. This falls hard on the heels of the City Councils recent decision to extend their eviction moratorium ordinance as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic until September 30, 2020. 

The original proposal, submitted by Council President Georgette Gomez, would have extended the repayment period to March 31, 2020.  The motion was amended to reduce the deadline to December 31, 2020, after it was clear the votes werent there to pass the longer period.  The amended motion passed on a 5-4 vote, with Councilmembers Bry, Cate, Sherman and Kersey opposed.  Since one of the items was a 6-vote emergency measure, that item failed passage, but the second item, a more traditional ordinance, did pass.  It will now require a second reading but is subject to a mayoral veto, which will take 6 votes to override.  The second reading may be heard as soon as August 12th and BOMA will continue to monitor the situation.