Coronado Mayor Richard Bailey sends letter to Newsom requesting he implement new strategy

CORONADO (KUSI) – New health restrictions are now in effect in San Diego County and the rest of Southern California, shutting down indoor service at restaurants among other closures, due to the rapidly increasing number of coronavirus hospitalizations.

A state-mandated “regional stay-at-home” order went into effect at 11:59 p.m. Sunday, triggered when intensive-care unit bed availability remained below 15% after Saturday’s daily update, according to the California Department of Public Health.

Coronado Mayor Richard Bailey has constantly advocated to give our local businesses the ability to reopen if safety protocols are put in place. Bailey has cited the data showing that the spread of coronavirus has not been attributed to the businesses that Governor Gavin Newsom is forcing to close.

Live on Good Morning San Diego, Mayor Bailey told KUSI’s Kacey McKinnon that, “it is really heartbreaking to see these small business owners and their employees who have really done everything that the state has asked them to do, to be shut down again.” Continuing, “I think it’s really important to note that in this situation where we have rising cases, and we have rising hospitalizations, there are no good answers, but there are certainly answers that make a bad situation even worse. I think that is what you are seeing from the State of California right now.”

Bailey also informed the KUSI News audience that he is sending another letter to Governor Gavin Newsom requesting he “reconsider the latest health order and implement a new public health strategy known in the medical community as ‘harm reduction.'”

The letter went on to warn Governor Newsom that, “the vast majority of Californians want to do the ‘right thing,’ but they are growing weary of policies that are inconsistent, arbitrary, and ineffective. I believe the public would welcome a new strategy.”

Mayor Bailey detailed his letter in a video message posted to his Instagram page, @_RichardBailey:

Mayor Bailey’s full letter can be read here.