Dear Business Partners,
We hope that you had a safe Thanksgiving holiday and enjoyed increased business activity during Black Friday, Small Business Saturday 2020 and Cyber Monday 2020!
Santa Clara County continues to experience record numbers of positive coronavirus cases. On November 28, 2020, Dr. Sara Cody reported that Santa Clara County holds the highest one-day record of positive COVID-19 cases (760) in the entire Bay Area. Dr. Cody asserted that we are at an inflection point and believes that by mid-December there will be a stronger surge resulting in more positive coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths. County Counsel, James Williams, communicated that the new Mandatory Directive was an extraordinarily difficult decision, but it was based on the health of the community and economy going hand in hand. We recognize that many of you are experiencing “pandemic fatigue,” but the following Mandatory Directive must be implemented as it is in effect now to curb the sharp rise in COVID-19 cases in Santa Clara County:
Capacity Limits for Indoor Facilities Open to the Public:
• Stores are limited to 10% capacity indoors
• Grocery and drug stores are limited to a 25% capacity indoors
• Establish a “metering system” which can be accomplished by having a business representative at the facility’s entrance to track the number of people entering and exiting.
Outdoor Gatherings:
• Gatherings are allowed outdoors only (max of 100 people). Per the State, gatherings include First Amendment protected activities such as religious services and protests.
Quarantine Post-Travel:
• If non-essential travel has taken place, people are required to quarantine for 14 days upon return if they traveled more than 150 miles. Essential workers are exempt.
Hotels and Other Lodging Facilities:
• Open for essential travel and for people needing to isolate and/or quarantine only.
Cardrooms:
• Cardrooms are temporarily closed.
Professional, Collegiate, and Youth Sports:
• Recreational activities involving physical contact outside of one’s household are prohibited
• Outdoor recreational activities with social distancing is allowed.
Requirements Applicable to All Businesses:
There are several requirements that businesses need to be aware of under the Revised Risk Reduction Order. All businesses must complete and submit a Revised Social Distancing Protocol for each of their facilities on the
County’s website. The previous Social Distancing Protocols submitted prior to October 11th are no longer valid. Also, all businesses must continue to require workers to do their jobs from home when possible. And, all organizations are required to report to the State’s Health Department (within 4 hours) if any of their employees test positive for COVID-19 and they must inform the rest of the workforce. Finally, all businesses must comply with the County’s capacity limitations as established in the
Mandatory Directive on Capacity Limitations.
State of California Financial Assistance Programs:
On November 30, 2020, Governor Newsom announced that the state is prioritizing assisting businesses through a temporary tax relief measure, COVID-19 relief grants and a funding increase to the California Rebuilding Fund. These business assistance and financial relief programs were recommended by Governor Newsom’s Task Force on Business and Jobs Recovery to provide ongoing support for businesses impacted by the pandemic. The programs include temporary tax relief, which is estimated to be worth billions, a new $500 million COVID Relief Grant program and an expansion of the California Rebuilding Fund by $12.5 million resulting in a total investment of $37.5 million for this fund. The Office of Economic Development strongly encourages you to check out these financial relief programs by clicking
here. If you need more information about these financial relief programs, please send us an
email and we are happy to assist.
Additional Resources:
The County of Santa Clara has created a business engagement landing page on its COVID-19 website with valuable resources and information. Information can be found
here or by calling the new COVID-19 Business Call Center at (408) 961-5500.
If you have any questions or need business assistance during COVID-19, please do not hesitate to contact the Office of Economic Development team by sending an
email. Assistance is available in English, Chinese, Spanish, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and other languages. We will continue to send out pertinent updates as they are made available to keep you informed.
Sincerely,
Alex
Alex Andrade
Economic Development Director
Phone: (408) 586-3046
455 E. Calaveras Blvd., Milpitas CA 95035
