For immediate release:
SACRAMENTO — Assemblymember Boerner Horvath issued the following statement in response to the Governor’s announcement on the Stage Two reopening of the California Economy set to begin later this week:
“Based on the most recent numbers, we’ve made enough progress in our regional battle to curb the spread of COVID-19 in California that it is now possible to begin a thoughtful, data-driven, and phased reopening of our state’s economy.
While there are still a decent number of patients being treated for COVID-19 in San Diego County as a whole, the numbers remain low in Encinitas, Carlsbad, Oceanside, Vista, and Camp Pendleton. This success is largely due to the vast majority of people complying with our state’s stay-at-home order designed to keep people safe and save lives.
The successes we are seeing regionally in the fight against this disease allows us to move farther down the path of reopening our communities and our economy, starting with some low-risk retail like bookstores, clothing stores, florists, sporting goods stores, manufacturing, and some logistics companies. To be honest, it may seem too much (or too little) to some, but it is a necessary first step to restart the engine of our local economy. I am confident we will do this with respect, responsibility and support for our mom and pop small businesses, which will lead to further opening.”
The strength of our North County economy comes from the people who own and operate the diverse patchwork of businesses, restaurants, manufacturers, and stores that are the lifeblood of our communities. The effort to open the economy as quickly and safely as possible is bi-partisan.
We all want to get back to business and provide for our families. The key is to do it safely. Our regional indicators show that we’ve had success in containing the spread of this virus locally, but our efforts to date will have been wasted if we do not stay the course and continue adhering to a data-centric strategy for reopening. Until there is a cure or some form of therapeutic treatment that significantly reduces the health risks of this disease, certain adjustments to daily life will remain necessary.
We’ve proven here in North County that we can all make changes to our daily lives in the best interest of our neighbors. Our deep commitment to community and social responsibility is what has made our progress to date possible. We now need to move carefully and collaboratively with our local businesses, residents, and public health experts into Phase Two of reopening our region. Let’s continue to demonstrate why our North County approach is a standard of success for the rest of the state to follow.
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