San Diego County closed bars (sans State Order)

San Diego County is not waiting on the State to say shut down the bars.

Bars to close Wednesday as county responds to local COVID-19 surge
Residents told to nix Fourth of July parties involving people outside the household

By Paul Sisson
Drink up, your days in local bars are numbered.

With COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continuing to increase, and a significantly-worse situation unfolding in Arizona, public health officials announced Monday that all San Diego County bars, wineries and breweries without associated restaurants must close Wednesday, a move ordered by the governor over the weekend for several other counties across the state where the SARS-CoV-2 virus is spreading even more rapidly.

The county posted a fresh single-day record for new cases, hitting 498 Sunday, one more than was reported for Saturday. Only one of the past seven single-day totals has been under 300 cases, and, more worrisome, the number of hospitalized COVID cases continues to climb, reaching 458 Sunday, significantly higher than the 346 hospitalizations tallied a week ago.

Though the state has not yet ordered the county to close bars, as it has several other counties across the state, county Supervisor Nathan Fletcher said that, with the upward trajectory visible in daily statistics, it simply did not make sense to wait. Bars, he argued, are distinct from restaurants in that they encourage people who don’t know each other to mingle.

“We believe it is appropriate, and we believe it is wise, to take this action,” Fletcher said.