Santa Cruz County supervisors lowered the fines for COVID-19 violations in August, however, concerns have been raised by residents over whether or not citations are actually being handed out.
The focus has been mainly on education, not citations, with county officials reminding people to wear a face mask and practice social distancing, said Jason Hoppin, county spokesman.
Most of the complaints from residents have centered on yoga studios and restaurants.
“If we get repeated complaints about a specific business we will go out there, usually with our environmental health teams,” Hoppin told KCBS Radio.
But, the enforcement team is still being trained on issuing citations.
“Oftentimes, people don’t realize the rules, but, of course, if they repeatedly flout them we will go ahead and enact some enforcement,” added Hoppin.
He told KCBS Radio that Santa Cruz is in good standing, with just 200 active coronavirus cases, the lowest the county has seen in a while.
“One of the ways that we can honor those people that died is to continue taking it seriously,” Hoppin said.
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