Alturas, Cal. – Modoc County was the first California to relax Coronavirus guidelines, but it’s not business as usual.
Monday marked the start of a return to a normal business week in Modoc County.
“Our county is open.” Confirms Heather Hadwick of Modoc County Emergency Services. “But in a very scaled back sense.”
Churches are now allowed to hold services with proper distancing.
Restaurants can now offer at least some ‘dine in’ meals.
“This wasn’t a mandatory.” Clarifies Modoc County Sheriff William ‘Tex’ Dowdy. “This was something that, if a business wants to open up, they can – if they’re not ready to open up, that’s fine, too.”
It’s not business as usual.
Modoc County Schools are still closed.
There’s a screening tent set up outside of the Modoc County Medical Center.
“We are with the county on this.” Notes Brandi Polley of the Medical Center. “We believe that they have thresholds in place that will allow us to be prepared in this situation.”
Antonio’s Restaurant is open, but only for take-out until they can ramp up staffing.
“I’ve got one staff member coming in this weekend, then we’ll think about in a couple weeks bringing in two more.” Explains Antonio’s Stan Yogi.
Modoc County still has no cases of Coronavirus.
The Board of County Supervisors met behind closed doors Monday to carefully consider their next steps.
“We really feel like rural, and northern California is not affected by Covid the same way as the city and metropolitan areas.” Claims Hadwick.
“They needed to reopen.” Adds Yogi. ‘We needed to get some economic stimulus going, move some dollars around. So, I don’t think it was too early.”
Modoc County opted to reopen May 1st, without waiting for approval from the state.
County Supervisors stress they are continuing to work closely with the Governor’s office.
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