April 9, 2020

Stay Classy, Stay Home and Stay Safe, San Diego

Callie Bjurstrom, Michelle Herrera, Robert James

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

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By April 4, employees at grocery stores, drug stores, gas stations and other public-facing businesses must wear a face covering, and by April 7, public-facing businesses must establish and post a social distancing and sanitation protocol.
Failure to comply may result in a fine, up to $1,000 per day.

Since the emergence of COVID-19, the County of San Diego has proceeded essentially in lockstep with the State’s efforts to curtail the spread of the coronavirus. On March 19, as the full impact of COVID-19 was becoming evident, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order N-33-20, which directed all residents to stay home except as needed to maintain operations of federal critical infrastructures. On March 27, the County Public Health Officer adopted EO N-33-20 and its designation of essential critical infrastructures, specified the categories of businesses that may remain open to the public, and set forth the parameters of social distancing.

Less than a week later, and obviously frustrated by his perception that the public was not taking these orders seriously enough, San Diego County Sheriff Gore announced: “The days of trying to get voluntary compliance are really over.”

The San Diego County Public Health Officer issued Addendum 1 on April 2. Addendum 1 imposes tighter restrictions on social distancing and imposes more rigorous sanitation requirements, sets hard deadlines for compliance and establishes fines for non-compliance:

By midnight on April 4, all employees of any grocery store, pharmacy/drug store, convenience store, gas station, restaurant or business establishment who may have contact with the public must wear a cloth face covering as described in the California Public Health Face Covering Guidance issued on April 1.
By midnight on April 7, all businesses that the public is allowed to enter must prepare and post a “Social Distancing and Sanitation Protocol” in accordance with a standard form, and must:
- Post the protocol at or near the entrance;
- Provide a copy of the protocol to each employee; and
- Provide evidence of compliance demanded by any authority enforcing the order.
By midnight on April 7, all public parks and recreation areas must:
- Comply with the Social Distancing and Sanitation Protocol identified above; and
- Close all parking lots for public parks and recreation areas.
Public parks and recreation areas shall be:
- Accessible only from members of the public within walking distance of the facility; and
- Used solely for walking, hiking and equestrian or bicycle riding.
The public is prohibited from engaging in active sport activities at public parks and recreation facilities.
Those who fail to comply may face a fine of up to $1,000 for every day of non-compliance. Residents are encouraged to report non-compliance to the 211 hotline or through a web portal.

According to Sheriff Gore, “[t]he message is going to go out to all of public safety here in the county that we will start issuing citations[.]”

Businesses must ensure they are aware of and comply with all public health orders related to COVID-19. Those who are found in non-compliance will likely face fines up to $1,000 per day of non-compliance in what is already a challenging economic period.

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DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.