City of Bishop Sends Letter to State Requesting Lowering Covid-19 Standards for Rural Counties

The Bishop City Council is asking Governor Gavin Newsom to consider relaxing the standards for rural counties under the Level-1, Purple Tier, Widespread category, pointing out that the current standard is unrealistic for a county that encompasses 10,000 square miles. The claim is that the “matter is exacerbated when you take into account that our area is so highly dependent on tourism.”

Following is the letter sent to the governor:

Loader Loading...
EAD Logo Taking too long?

Reload Reload document
| Open Open in new tab

Download [42.33 KB]

 

,

7 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Sarah
Sarah
2 years ago

I am confused. There already is a Small Counties adjustment for exactly this reason. For Inyo (or any county with population less than 35k) to move into Red, we would need to have 35 or fewer new cases per week, for two consecutive weeks. For Orange, 14 or fewer. For… Read more »

state bureaucracy
state bureaucracy
2 years ago
Reply to  Sarah

The claim by the state is that those values only apply for moving “to a more restrictive” tier, and not for moving OUT of a more restrictive tier to a lower one.

Sarah
Sarah
2 years ago

Fascinating! I reread the source, and you’re right that it doesn’t talk about moving out of a more restrictive tier. I had assumed it would go both ways, odd that it doesn’t. Thanks for clarifying.

JaneE
JaneE
2 years ago

10,000 square miles but most of the population is probably within a 25 mile radius of Bishop. Does no one remember what happened to our case count the last time we started seeing lots of tourists? Almost all of them are going to be from the very crowded areas where… Read more »

Mile High Mania
Mile High Mania
2 years ago

Give me a break…it’s all about getting money from the State.
“Mommy may I” go outside to Play.

sugarmags
sugarmags
2 years ago

Oh boy. I commend them for trying but that is not a well written letter. Sheesh. They could have included a comparison of cases per sq. mile with LA county and SBD county. I have to imagine the number would be striking. Of course that logic fails IF a majority… Read more »

Low
Low
2 years ago

It’s a little late in the game, but having a blanket tier system that encompasses every county is ridiculous. There really should be a separate tier system for counties with a population under 20k. Our business owners have done a hell of a job weathering the restriction storm this past… Read more »