Marin County will update its coronavirus stay-home order on Monday to allow vacationers to stay in hotels and short-term rentals, health officials confirmed Friday.
Lodging businesses have been banned from renting to guests not deemed “essential” by the county’s stay-home order. Those guests include “essential” workers, the homeless, people exposed to the coronavirus who need a place to isolate and people evacuated from natural disasters.
Vacationers can return next week, but the new public health rules won’t allow hotels and vacation rental hosts to rent to groups of people from different households. Parties and events at lodging businesses are also banned.
The looser restrictions, which health officials announced as a tentative plan earlier this week and confirmed Friday, come as Marin’s coronavirus case rate continues to dive. It sunk to a two-week average of 131 cases per 100,000 residents as of the most recent update on Friday, down from 390 cases per 100,000 residents a month ago, county data show.
But despite the progress, Marin remains on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s “watch list” of California counties with troubling coronavirus trends. With Marin’s case rate above 100 infections per 100,000 residents, local health officials are prevented from rolling back restrictions on other businesses, including the closure of indoor dining rooms at restaurants.
“We’ve now moved as far as we can into reopening given our status on the state’s monitoring list,” Marin County Public Health Officer Dr. Matt Willis said in a statement Friday. “With enough progress, we’ll fall off the list and can consider further reopening.”
For the popular tourist city of Sausalito, hotel guests could bring in much-needed revenue for local businesses. But with some pandemic restrictions still in place, it’s unlikely the city’s economy will return to normal levels right away, said Councilman Joe Burns.
“A lot of the things that tourists come to Sausalito for in the first place aren’t open,” Burns said, noting that retail stores are operating under strict safety guidelines and restaurants are only allowed to serve customers outdoors.
“It’ll be a start toward feeling like we’re returning to normal, but it’s just a drop in the bucket given those limitations,” he said.
Hotel Sausalito is taking a slow approach to reopening for regular bookings next week, said general manager Michael Rogers.
Situated along Sausalito’s main downtown corridor with views of Richardson Bay and the Tiburon Peninsula, the hotel won’t offer its customary free breakfast service or set out wine and cheese for guests amid the pandemic, Rogers said.
“We’ll see how it goes and hire employees back as needed,” he said. “We have to just gauge the travel industry.”
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August 22, 2020 at 06:07AM
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Marin County to allow vacationers in hotels, rentals on Monday - Marin Independent Journal
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