The statewide COVID-19 response has stuck with us a year beyond the initially promised “fourteen days to flatten the curve.” The governor’s latest reaction – the four-colored tier scheme – remains in place, though Sacramento has changed the rules multiple times and may yet again.

Orange County has spent the last year working to reduce the impact of COVID to the greatest extent possible within the limits of state law. Key to these efforts has been the awarding of grants to local businesses and others. While not wholly compensating for the lockdown’s horrific economic effects, these grants have been critical for the recipients’ financial survival.

The county has provided over $15 million in grants directly to Irvine and other cities in my Third District. One round of about $15 million in funding went to supplement the cities’ grants to businesses. Another round of funding of $2 million went to several nonprofit groups. Over $430,000 in grants went to skilled nursing facilities, ensuring staff had proper PPE equipment. Additionally, my office successfully directed $500,000 to the arts community in the Third District.

Countywide, the Board of Supervisors drafted guidelines for businesses to safely reopen, waived permits and other restrictions to ease operations, and provided $5 million to assist local childcare businesses and nonprofits affected by COVID. We incentivized restaurants to follow CDPH safety guidance, provided grants for basic needs such as childcare, rental and utility assistance, transportation costs, and equipment needed for teleworking. On my motion, we allocated $3 million each to Second Harvest and the OC Food Bank for emergency food distribution services. Finally, we stood up Project Roomkey to ease crowding in our shelters and reopened a closed facility in our district to provide additional space and resources.

But grants of tax dollars and fee waivers or other workarounds are not going to eliminate the effects of COVID. First, of course, the government simply does not have enough money to keep the economy afloat. Only a robust business environment can do that. Second, and perhaps more importantly, the effects of COVID are not just economical but include substantial mental, physical and emotional damages. Money cannot fix those injuries; a return to normal is necessary.

Fortunately, there is excellent news on the COVID front. Two vaccines are available currently, with a third coming imminently and even more expected soon. According to our health care director, the county is on track to have sufficient vaccines in arms by July 4 to achieve “herd immunity” to all of Orange County. Our testing reveals decreasing positivity rates, as well as a significant easing of impacts on our hospitals. Moreover, as we look at other counties and their vaccination efforts and COVID rates, we are proud to be among the most prosperous counties on all of those fronts. The director of the County’s Health Care Agency reports that he is cautiously optimistic the surges we have seen before will not revisit us.

All of this is good news on the COVID front. I urge you, when the vaccine becomes available to you, to get it. If your friends and neighbors are suffering any of the financial, emotional or physical effects of COVID and the isolating response to it, please offer them a helping hand. The people of Orange County have been very generous fiscally and personally in their collective response to COVID. As a result, the return to normal is within sight.

Supervisor Wagner, a past mayor of Irvine, represents most Irvine and surrounding cities on the Orange County Board of Supervisors.

(Don Wagner)

Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting Irvine Weekly and our advertisers.