The status update for July 20, 2020 includes information about countywide health order enforcement up for consideration tomorrow and updated COVID-19 activity.

Marin County COVID-19 Status Update: July 20, 2020

The Marin County COVID-19 Status Update is now publishing five days a week (Monday through Friday) and as needed, in order to share important news and resources in our battle against COVID-19 and to keep our economy running. We remain here for you.

For the latest statistics, please scroll to the bottom of today’s update.

Countywide Health Order Enforcement up for Consideration

Towns and cities in Marin are planning to join the County of Marin with enhanced enforcement of public health orders to help curtail the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. A new task force will collaborate with city and town personnel to focus on business violations throughout the county. 

The Marin County Board of Supervisors will consider an urgency ordinance at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting that creates new civil penalties for violations of orders issued by County Public Health Officer Dr. Matt Willis. The ordinance provides an administrative penalty framework to allow town, city, and additional County personnel to help law enforcement officers address violations of health and safety codes. The framework would be used to supplement existing enforcement methods, including criminal misdemeanor actions where education and civil penalties are not successful in deterring violations. Efforts will focus on business violations, but jurisdictions will have discretion to enforce where they see the greatest risk to public health in their communities. 

The County announced the creation of an email address, SIPviolation@marincounty.org, on July 16 to which anyone may send tips about businesses violating COVID-related health orders. Reporting parties should include the business name, address, and as much detail as possible regarding the perceived health order violation. Photos and other documentation welcome, too. Reports will be forwarded to the appropriate governing agency for review and investigation, with a focus on businesses not adhering to the public health orders.

With a recent spike in confirmed COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, Willis advocated that it’s necessary to recruit assistance to enforce the rules and stem the outbreak of the infectious disease. Wherever appropriate, informal intervention and education will be used as the method of choice to encourage voluntary compliance with public health orders. The new administrative penalties will provide an additional tool where education and warnings are not effective. 

“The majority of Marin residents and businesses are complying with our public health orders during this pandemic, but there’s been an increasing need for stronger enforcement,” Willis said. “Ending this health emergency will take a sustained team effort, and our goal with this action is to hold people accountable for actions that jeopardize public health.”

“Cities and towns will continue to focus on education to ensure compliance with public health orders,” said Greg Chanis, Tiburon Town Manager and chair of the local city and town managers association. “In addition, we appreciate the opportunity to partner with the County on these new enforcement tools to assist in that effort. The virus doesn’t respect borders, so we need consistent and flexible tools to educate and enforce in our communities.”

The civil penalty for noncommercial health code violations related to COVID-19 will be between $25 and $500. For commercial activity, it will be $250 to $10,000. Factors determining the size of a penalty include risks to public health, previous warnings, lack of good-faith efforts to comply, and increased revenue generated from noncompliance.

A task force – including Community Development Agency Code Enforcement, Environmental Health Services, the Sheriff’s Office, and the County Counsel’s Office – will collaborate with city and town personnel to focus on local business violations. Those authorized to issue citations for public health code violations include public safety officers (law enforcement and fire), code enforcement officers, park rangers, and any other employees designated by Marin towns, cities, or the County. They may enforce the public health code by inspecting public or private property and fine anyone obstructing the code enforcement. The designated officers may provide up to 72 hours for a violator to abate an issue and avoid penalty. The County plans to initiate a centralized hearing process for the administrative civil penalties.

Governor Gavin Newsom and the California Department of Public Health recently installed more restrictions on certain sectors of the economy because of the statewide surge in cases. Indoor business operations in many sectors were shuttered July 13 despite the gradual reopening of the economy weeks earlier. On July 2, Marin County joined more than 30 other counties on the state’s watch list, prompting the July 5 temporary closures of additional industries deemed non-critical as listed in Section 15.f of the current shelter-in-place order.

The updated status of businesses and industries reopenings in Marin County can be found at MarinRecovers.com. Additional details about the Governor’s directive can be found at COVID19.CA.gov.

COVID-19 Data Update:

Below is a summary of today’s data now available on Marin Data & Surveillance webpage. View the page for a broader range of data, plus interactive graphs for confirmed COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths. Data analysis is available by age range, gender, race and city/town/geographic region. Questions about the data? See our Data FAQ or contact us.

COVID-19 activity in Marin:

DATA TYPE	Today’s Report	Change from  Last Update
Total Confirmed Cases**	2,288	+200
Total Recovered (14 days post-diagnosis)	1,699	+66
Total Deaths	31	+1
Current Hospitalizations*	32	+6
Total / Cumulative Hospitalizations**	98	+11
Tests Completed in Marin	43,818	+2,056

Residential Care & Skilled Nursing Facility COVID-19 activity:

DATA TYPE	Today’s Report	Change from  Last Update
Positive Patients at Facilities cumulative	170	+25
Positive Patients at Facilities current	78	+25
Positive Staff at Facilities cumulative	165	+17
Positive Staff at Facilities current	57	+7
Facilities with current positive patients or staff	24	+3

State COVID-19 activity:

DATA TYPE	Today’s Report	Change from  Last Update
California Confirmed Cases	391,538	+25,374
California Deaths	7,694	+219

San Quentin State Prison COVID-19 activity:

DATA TYPE	Today’s Report	Change from Last Update
San Quentin Active Cases In Custody**	922	-196

* Visit our Data & Surveillance Page for a breakdown of patient type (e.g., San Quentin case versus Marin resident)

**San Quentin cases are not included in Marin’s count for cumulative cases or cumulative hospitalizations [See our Data FAQ]. We report San Quentin total in custody cases as reported by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. (To view data, visit CDCR’s COVID-19 Tracing Dashboard, and then select “Institution View” tab at the bottom and filter to “CA State Prison, San Quentin in the upper right-hand corner.)

Stay Informed

Follow the County of Marin on Facebook, Twitter, Nextdoor or subscribe to our status updates. Visit MarinHHS.org/coronavirus for resources to stay connected on the issue.

Helpful Links and Online Resources:

• Frequently Asked Questions
• COVID-19 Test Information
• Face Covering & Mask Information
• Volunteer Opportunities
• Donation Options
• Business Reopening Guidelines
• Business Reopening Status
• Archive of past status updates

Contact Us.  We Are Here For You.

Have questions?  We are here to help.  Our call center is available Monday through Friday, from 9:30am to 12-noon and 1:00pm to 5:00pm. Please feel free to connect with us for general information and resources by calling (415) 473-7191.  We are also available online!  As a reminder, please only call 9-1-1 if you are experiencing a life-threatening emergency.

Reporting Businesses in Violation of Public Health Orders

We know this is a challenging time. Those wishing to report a public health order violation by a business can submit their concerns to SIPViolation@marincounty.org. Please include the business name, address, and as much detail as possible regarding the perceived health order violation.  Photos and other documentation welcome, too. Reports will be forwarded to the appropriate governing agency for review and investigation.

Visit Marin Recovers Status list for information on business openings and guidelines and the current health order for information on face covering requirements, shelter-in-place and more. Keep in mind that the goal of the order is to educate and keep our community safe. While violations of the public health order are misdemeanors, making arrests continues to remain a measure of last resort for local law enforcement. It will only be considered after all education and voluntary compliance efforts have failed.

Be a role model and follow the order while encouraging others to do the same. If you see a business out of compliance, you can speak directly to the owner, and offer the link or a copy of the COVID-19 Site-Specific Protection Plan as well as information about the Marin Recovers website. We’re all in this together and we all need to do our part.