Social distancing still encouraged when going out to support local businesses
Starting March 27, Yolo County started permitting non-essential businesses “to process online and phone orders for home deliveries,” although the actual physical locations are required to remain shut for the public, according to a press release from Yolo County.
While residents of Yolo County continue to shelter-in-place under orders of Yolo County and the State of California, they may start needing non-essential items. Thus, “as an added layer to help keep residents at home and support local businesses during this time, non-essential businesses will be allowed to make home deliveries,” the press release reads.
Examples of non-essential businesses include restaurants with eat-in dining, sports good stores, thrift stores, sport games and more. A complete list of what is considered essential and non-essential can be found on Yolo County’s website.
Yolo County will continue to ensure that all residents have access to food through services like weekly food deliveries. For instance, the Food Bank will home-deliver a 45-pound box of food each week “to over 1000 homebound senior or medically vulnerable individuals.” There are other similar programs that will continue to operate, such as food delivery programs for homeless individuals, CalFresh and more.
Jenny Tan, the public information officer for Yolo County at the County Administrator’s Office, stressed the importance of continuing to support local businesses during this time.
“From ordering food to purchasing supplies or clothes from local businesses, either online or in person (if they are still physically open), now is the time to do it,” Tan said via email. “If you go anywhere in person, make sure to follow social distancing by staying 6 feet away from people or only touching what you are purchasing.”
Yolo County also released a list of resources in a presentation, which are aimed to help businesses and employees in Yolo County.
For example, staff from the Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) will be available by phone from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. They will be able to answer general questions related to employment, communicate “updated job leads from local employers” and help with online job applications.
Additionally, HHSA will also be able to help local businesses by providing assistance pertaining to regional resources and Small Business Loans and having connections to the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act or Rapid Response, as well as collecting data and answering more general questions.
On a larger scale, HHSA will also be assisting “local cities, regional employment partners and employment organizations.”
Such programs will help residents of Yolo County in a time where many of the daily lives of residents have been affected.
“From school to work to leisure, all of our lives have been drastically impacted,” Tan said via email. “People are home and have to think about things that they never really used to — like how to handle education for their children, how to work from home (if they are), and also how to stay positive in a time when we have to be physically alone.”
Not only have residents been impacted but so has the county. While staff of Yolo County who are able to work from home continue to do so, the Emergency Operations Center has also been activated, which is “a central command and control facility to carry out emergency preparedness and management”, according to Tan.
Although non-essential businesses will still be allowed to process home delivery orders, Tan highlighted the importance of staying at home.
“Residents need to follow the stay at home order as much as possible,” Tan said via email. “This is for the safety of everyone, including them. No matter your age or health, you can get COVID-19. Wearing a mask does NOT replace social distancing or the stay at home order.”
Written by: Shraddha Jhingan — city@theaggie.org
