California Gov. Gavin Newsom lifted regional stay-at-home orders across the state Jan. 25, surprising both small businesses and the medical community. While those involved in medicine are worried that it may cause another surge of positive COVID-19 cases, this move has been lauded by mom and pop stores struggling to stay afloat through the pandemic.

The loosening of restrictions has been a significant source of relief for many small business owners, including Elizabeth Hernandez, the owner of Two’s Company, a small sandwich shop located in Old Towne Orange. Hernandez told The Panther that keeping her eatery alive has been extremely difficult.

“My husband and I are running the business right now, and we can’t have a day off,” Hernandez said. “We can’t afford to pay anybody right now …The best thing is to stay home (in order to contain the virus), but how can we survive?”

Carol Arnone, owner of Salon Dusserre in Orange, said that she was both relieved and apprehensive upon hearing the news that the stay-at-home order was lifted, fearing that another state-mandated quarantine may return. After having to close her salon three times since March 2020, she is still working to retrieve her clientele — many of whom have been regular customers for decades. 

“I've owned three salons since 1983 and gone through two recessions,” Arnone said. “Nothing has ever been like this (pandemic).” 

Although the economy now has a greater chance of rebounding, Jerika Lam, a viral infection specialist at Chapman University, believes Newsom lifted the stay-at-home orders too early, as infection rates have only recently started to decrease. While California’s statistics show a decrease in infections and hospitalizations, death rates in the state have remained fairly stagnant, with a seven-day average of 470 deaths as of Feb. 7. 

Crematoriums have witnessed an enormous influx in demand for their services with the death toll remaining high, so much so to the point that the South Coast Air Quality Management District recently lifted environmental restrictions on cremations based on the backlog of bodies waiting to be cremated.

“The demand has increased to a point that I haven’t witnessed in over 30 years in the industry,” said Chuck Ricciardi, the co-owner and president of Pacific Cremation Services in Lake Forest, California. “We can normally perform a cremation from the time we meet with the family … in seven to 10 days, and we have had to push that timeline to (between) 21 and 25 days. (It’s) pretty unprecedented to wait that long to have a loved one cremated.” 

More locally, Orange County currently has 10.4% of ICU beds available, with a positivity rate of 10.9% as of Feb. 7. Lam added that data being used to make these decisions tends to lag behind as information is gradually collected and analyzed, and emphasized the danger that mutations of the virus pose.

“We're just basically setting up an environment for the virus to communicate under selective pressure,” Lam said. “There's going to be a super mutant that will eventually emerge, and it's survival of the fittest.”

Newsom was criticized by both Democrats who say he lifted restrictions due to mounting political pressure and Republicans who demand the governor open the state further. Despite the reasoning behind each political party, a collective recall threat looms for the governor. In addition, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department released a statement confirming that law enforcement would not enforce citizen compliance with mask-wearing, social distancing and other COVID-19 related restrictions. Similarly, many restaurants in Orange County have opposed and outright refused to comply with lockdown rules.

“It was a response to politics at the moment,” said Amber Osorno, senior health science major at Chapman University and co-president of Chapman’s American Medical Student Association. “We all heard about the ‘Recall Gavin Newsom’ (movement) … so it was convenient that it happened at the same time.” 

The main source of hope toward combating the coronavirus is the vaccine, although its distribution has been slower than anticipated. Andrew Noymer, an associate professor of Population Health and Disease Prevention at the University of California, Irvine, told The Panther he expects that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is likely to authorize the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine soon, as vaccines will proceed to rollout in retail pharmacies like CVS Feb. 11. 

However, while some are feeling optimistic about the vaccines, Riccardi pointed to the thousands of families who have had to grieve the loss of their loved one in social isolation and without proper closure.

“What's missing in this is the human element … the sadness of families not being able to be with their loved ones upon their death,” he said.