Press release from the Humboldt County Joint Information Center:

Humboldt County residents are encouraged to take a community survey to give county leaders feedback on the types of non-essential businesses they would like to see reopen first once the state’s Stay-at-Home Order is relaxed.

To reduce risk to public health, Humboldt County plans to reopen non-essential businesses and services in phases. The county is currently in Phase One, shelter in place, with Phase Two being the first group of businesses to reopen. In order to move on to Phase Two and beyond, the state must first roll back its Stay-At-Home Order.

“Our Governor has put into place a state guideline, and our county’s shelter-in-place order cannot be less restrictive than that order,” Sheriff William Honsal said. “However, as the state moves forward with the Governor’s Resilience Roadmap stages, we can begin opening up our local economy.”

The Governor’s Resilience Roadmap outlines the four stages that the state will use as it works to begin slowly reopening the economy and ending the Stay-At-Home Order. The stages align with the Governor’s Six Key Indicators for modifying the Order. When making decisions regarding opening up the economy in Humboldt County, local officials must follow the state’s roadmap and abide by the current Stay-At -Home restrictions.

As part of local officials’ planning process for reopening Humboldt County, residents are asked to complete the community survey and recommend non-essential businesses for reopening by phase. As residents submit their feedback, they are asked to consider the following:

• Lower-risk businesses will likely be opened first.
• Businesses opening early in this process will be required and should be able to incorporate social distancing and other safety measures from start to finish, including:
  • Masking or facial covering for all employees
  • Limiting foot traffic to allow 6 feet of social distancing at all times
  • Safe spacing of customers when outdoors
  • Easy availability of hand sanitizer for employees and customers
  • Availability of handwashing for employees and customers
  • Frequent cleaning and sanitizing of the facility
• Employers will need to have a plan to keep employees out of the workplace if they get sick.

Residents can access the Community Survey on Non-Essential Business Reopening at: www.surveymonkey.com/r/DXDVYJN.

The deadline to complete this survey is 5 p.m. on Friday, May 1, 2020. If you have questions about this survey, please contact the COVID Information Line at 707-441-5000 or email CovidInfo@co.humboldt.ca.us.