A lot of California restaurants took a big hit in business during the omicron surge, so news about the state’s mask mandate lift were well received.
However, the joy didn’t last long for Luna Mexican Kitchen and staff in the South Bay after Santa Clara County announced they wouldn’t be following the state’s decision.
“I think its frustrating,” said Campbell resident Aaron Derbacher. “I think it’s pretty fair to say a lot of us are frustrated and were kind of ready for things to be ‘normal’.”
Jo Lopez, the owner of Luna Mexican Kitchen said he felt the county wasn’t going to change things just yet.
“We knew,” Lopez said, “and that’s okay because our county, we want to be safe, and I support that.”
Public Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody said she respects the decisions made by other counties, but decided to hold out until sometime in March so three key metrics can be reached.
One out of those metrics has been reached – 80% of residents being vaccinated.
However, adequate hospitalization rate has yet to be achieved as we as the rolling seven-day average for new cases to get below 550 cases per day.
“We still have very high levels of community transmission,” Dr. Cody said, “still higher than at any other point in the pandemic pre-omicron.”
For now, restaurant patrons and others, including gym members, will have to wait.
“Can you picture a day when we won’t have masks?,” asked NBC Bay Area reporter to a local gym member.
“Yeah!,” said Dennis Flick. “Yeah, when the ‘pandemic’ becomes ‘endemic’.”
The Santa Clara County Public Health Department is currently reevaluating its metrics to focus more exclusively on omicron, and Dr. Cody said she expects adjustments to be made.
Source: NBC Bay Area
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