After 50 days, California’s regional stay at home order limiting non-essential travel was lifted.

Now, retail, food and personal care businesses in Irvine have the green light to reopen outdoor services, with Purple Tier modifications – once again.

Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan said the state’s announcement caught her by surprise Monday, especially considering she has weekly calls with County Health Officer Dr. Clayton Chau.

“I thought it was a little early, and it didn’t come with much messaging as to why the sudden change.” Khan said in an interview with Irvine Weekly. “Our numbers haven’t decreased, our [ICU] capacity is still at zero percent, so I didn’t understand where that was coming from.”

Issued by California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Dec. 6, the state’s regional stay-at-home order was expected to last three weeks. However, due to impacted intensive care unit capacity, it lasted nearly two months.

Since then, Orange County business owners have been looking to the county for answers, as many struggle to survive.

Some have suggested that the governor’s regional stay-at-home order may have been too strict in targeting specific services, like outdoor dining, while failing to give more comprehensive guidelines for reopening.

Lucy Dunn, president of the Irvine-based Orange County Business Council, said the lack of guidance has created confusion for businesses of all sizes in California.

“Disneyland is the largest single site employer in the state of California, and the largest in Orange County. For it to be shuddered for six months, with no guidelines for reopening, is crazy,” Dunn said in an interview with Irvine Weekly.

Dunn said there is no science to base closing outdoor dining, saying shutting people out of outdoor dining does more harm than good, especially when businesses already spent money to implement modifications.

“By eliminating [outdoor dining] you’ve forced people to party in their homes,” Dunn said.

As many businesses struggle to survive across the county, a potentially overlooked community has been family-run farms and small businesses serving the Great Park Certified Farmers Market.

Despite being an essential business, the Farmers Market has been feeling the impact for months.

Mary Senske, manager of the GPCFM, said the employees that serve the farms are facing increasingly challenging circumstances.

“The people that come to the farmers markets aren’t always the owner of the farm, they are hired help – 90 percent are Latino, that aren’t necessarily here legally,” Senske said in an interview with Irvine Weekly. “So that demographic is a little freaked out because they don’t know if they’re ever going to get the vaccine. So, they’re like, ‘What are our rights here?'” 

Senske added that while the market had a better-than-expected December, the outlook for January was much lower than annual projections.

“January, which is normally our busy time because of a focus on getting healthy, is down 40 percent,” she said.

However, Senske is holding out hope. As an essential business, she said the Farmers Market will remain open as is until further notice.

“We are business as usual,” she said.

Khan said access to the vaccine is important for everyone in the community, regardless of status, or how they came here.

“We’re going to do everything we can to get people vaccinated regardless,” Khan said in an interview with Irvine Weekly on Thursday, Jan. 28. “I will make sure, in my conversations with Dr. Chau, and even within our city, that we let this community know that they are going to have access to the vaccine.”

Now, in accordance with the state’s Blueprint For A Safer Economy, all retail businesses in Irvine and Orange County, including shopping malls and shopping centers, can return to indoor operations, with modifications at 25 percent capacity. However, food courts and common areas will remain closed.

Barbershops, hair salons and personal services will also be allowed to return to indoor services, with modifications. Gyms and fitness centers are currently only allowed to offer outdoor services.

As of Monday, Jan. 25, restaurants in Orange County were legally allowed to return to outdoor dining.

Multiple restaurants in Irvine and Orange County openly ignored state health orders by continuing to host outdoor dining.

In fact, the city of Irvine has received more than 1,500 complaints against businesses from the community since the pandemic began in March 2020.

The complaints, totaling 1,544, resulted in 29 citations, and a single notice of violation.

Irvine City Council member Anthony Kuo said he understands the hardships endured by both families and small businesses, and said he is aware that some businesses in Irvine were bending the rules.

“If you are wanting to grab a bite to eat, you can go grab a bite to eat. There are restaurants that are open – they may or may not be allowed to, but they’re open — they’re doing it,” Kuo said in an interview with Irvine Weekly on Jan. 17.

The state’s current guidance indicates that restaurants will be able to return to indoor dining, with 25 percent capacity, when the county moves into the Red Tier, also known as the Substantial COVID-19 risk category.

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