Staff Report

To provide clarity to select businesses in the County of Santa Barbara regarding Governor Gavin Newsom’s March 19, 2020 “stay well at home” executive order, Santa Barbara County Health Officer Henning Ansorg, M.D. has issued a Health Officer Order. It will be effective starting 5 p.m., Sunday April 5, 2020 until 5 p.m., on May 4, 2020, unless extended.

The new order stipulates the following for its duration:

  1. Food facilities must offer food to go only, and comply with hygiene and social distancing standards or be subject to permit suspension and mandatory closure.
    • Food Facilities; Restaurants, bars, nightclubs, and coffee shops may only remain open to offer food for pick-up, delivery, or drive-thru.
    • All food must be in containers.
    • Food must be consumed off-site. No provision for on-site dining allowed.
    • All food workers must wear facial covers (covering nose and mouth) supplied by the employer and maintained in a clean, sanitary manner.
    • Six-foot spacing must be maintained between customers. 
    • Workers may not work while ill. 
    • Food facility employees or volunteers who have had symptoms of COVID-19 shall return to work only when they have been free of symptoms for at least 72 hours without medication AND at least seven (7) days have elapsed since the onset of symptoms.
    • The Health Officer recommends that food facility operators actively screen all workers, volunteers, and outside vendors for COVID-19 symptoms upon each individual’s arrival at the food facility. Individuals who exhibit symptoms consistent with COVID-19 as defined by the Santa Barbara County Health Officer shall be immediately excluded from the facility.
  1. The following businesses are ordered to close without exception;
      • Bars and nightclubs that do not serve food;
      • Movie theaters, live performance venues, bowling alleys, and arcades;
      • Gyms, and fitness centers, and aquatic centers;
      • Wineries, breweries, and tap rooms that provide tastings;
      • Trophy shops or trophy businesses;
      • Tattoo parlors, tattoo businesses, tattoo artists, and body art facilities; 
      • Barbers, hair salons, and hairstylists;
      • Campgrounds and RV parks, public and private. Only those who certify that the RV is their primary residence may be permitted to stay in the RV park; 
      • Nail salons, manicurists, and pedicurists to close except for medical necessity e.g. medical treatment for diabetes; 
      • Day spas and massage parlors, except as required for prescribed medical treatment. 
  • In addition, the following must close:
    • Swimming pools, hot tubs, spas, saunas, steam rooms (except those in a single-family residence or medical setting, with medically prescribed therapy carried out with individuals 6 feet apart);

This Order is intended to reduce the likelihood of exposure to COVID-19, thereby slowing the spread of COVID-19. Violation or failure to comply may constitute a misdemeanor punishable by fine up to $1000, imprisonment, or both. Violators are also subject to civil enforcement actions including fines or civil penalties per violation per day, injunctive relief, and attorneys’ fees and costs. 

The Health Officer Order can be viewed in full here. 

Additionally, a Health Officer Order was issued this past week stating requirements for all individuals entering certain licensed facilities and other agencies to be temperature screened, require a self-evaluation, and prohibited entry to facilities as needed. Read the full Order here.