With COVID-19 devastating the business community Del Norte County, supervisors asked Dr. Warren Rehwaldt, the county’s public health officer, to work with the state to lessen the restrictions.Rehwaldt updated supervisors on COVID-19 in the community.“Locally, we’ve been pressed hard with new cases, about a five-fold increase in cases we were seeing a couple of months ago,” Rehwaldt said. “This is starting to impact our medical system. There are three cases in the hospital, which we haven’t seen before.”#placement_573654_0_i{width:100%;max-width:550px;margin:0 auto;}var rnd = window.rnd || Math.floor(Math.random()*10e6);var pid573654 = window.pid573654 || rnd;var plc573654 = window.plc573654 || 0;var abkw = window.abkw || '';var absrc = 'https://ads.empowerlocal.co/adserve/;ID=181918;size=0x0;setID=573654;type=js;sw='+screen.width+';sh='+screen.height+';spr='+window.devicePixelRatio+';kw='+abkw+';pid='+pid573654+';place='+(plc573654++)+';rnd='+rnd+';click=CLICK_MACRO_PLACEHOLDER';var _absrc = absrc.split("type=js"); absrc = _absrc[0] + 'type=js;referrer=' + encodeURIComponent(document.location.href) + _absrc[1];document.write('');Rehwaldt said the increase in cases has impacted his small staff and has made is difficult to fully investigate each case.“Fortunately, a lot of people who we’ve reached out to, they have already taken some steps and have gone into self-isolation,” Rehwaldt said. “So, I think people are getting the message.”The doctor said a vaccine is just around the corner, and he expects doses to get to Del Norte County soon.“For us, it’s going to be a small number of doses, but it’s going to be enough to prioritize getting our front-line health force vaccinated and possibly at the skilled nursing facility, at least a good portion of them.”Rehwaldt said he expects Del Norte County to receive 450 doses of the vaccine during the initial release. The small number will only be enough to vaccinate those in greatest need. One problem Del Norte County has right now is the Pfizer vaccine must be stored at extremely cold temperatures, and the county does not have a freezer to store them right now. County commissioners voted to spend $5,300 on a freezer Tuesday, but the early vaccines will have to be stored in another county.The doctor said vaccines for the general public are still several months away.After hearing from Rehwaldt, several supervisors asked him to intervene to help local businesses.“Is there any big difference between our viruses in Del Norte County versus Curry County,” Supervisor Bob Berkowitz asked. “The reason I ask that is a number of people I’ve talked to are going to Curry County because, of course no sales tax, but they can go and dine in at restaurants with no social distancing, and they don’t seem like they have a problem. What’s the difference between Del Norte County, where we’re in a lockdown versus Curry County, which seems to be open?”“I don’t think there’s any difference,” Rehwaldt responded. “We know there’s a lot of traffic across the border. We see that all the time because our nurses have to work with Curry County staff. We have shared cases. Their counts have risen quite a bit as well.”Supervisor Roger Gitlin went a step further.“My question has to do with the spike at Pelican Bay and within the community,” Gitlin said. “The impact of this virus appears to be less lethal, no new hospitalizations and certainly no new deaths. People are contracting this and recovering from it from what appears to be a shortened quarantine period. My question is how this impacts our local business community, especially restaurants. In your discussions with the state is there any understanding that they allow any counties, especially border counties like ours, and all businesses, especially restaurants, to open up?”Rehwaldt did his best to answer.“I don’t think the virus is less lethal,” he said. “In fact, the trend has been we’ve had a new strain that’s more potent. It’s hard to know lethality of the virus when you have counter measures in place. As far as the restaurant owners, I’m empathetic with their plight. I understand that it just doesn’t feel right that they’re being constrained to that degree. The problem is when you’re in the middle of what appears to be a surge, it’s hard to make the calls. I don’t see anything in the forseeable future. A good portion of the state, the majority of California is in a stay at home order. We are not.”But Gitlin said something must be done and done quickly for Del Norte businesses.“There are businesses that are tragically going under,” Gitlin said. “When we have businesses that are dying in our community, businesses that create taxes and jobs, it looks like the ability of people to enjoy life in Del Norte County is almost nil. They can drive 26 miles to the north and have a good dinner.“This community is dying as we look at it. Businesses are hurting. What’s left after this coronavirus leaves is something we may not recognize. I appreciate your continued vigilance in pleading our case to the state public health department that there are exceptions to their one-size-fits-all rules that effect tiers. They effect human beings. We’ve closed our community and that is dire to me and the people who have called me.”But not all commissioners agreed with that approach.“It’s not Dr. Rehwaldt’s job to present our case to Sacramento,” Supervisor Chris Howard said. “It’s Dr. Rehwaldt’s job to implement the best he can under the restrictions. It is our job as elected officials to spread that word in Sacramento and try to get the ear to have some of the restrictions that are heavy, heavy, heavy burdens on our economy, out children, it is our job to express those considerations to Sacramento.” googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('ad-1515727'); });