San Bernardino County is allowing short-term rentals and campgrounds to operate, with the county recommending owners sanitize between uses and only rent to guests who are coming from the same household, a county official confirmed on Saturday.
County spokesman David Wert said the decision was made after hearing from many short-term rental owners who wanted to know whether they were allowed to operate after the county rescinded many of its health orders on May 8.
That move allowed the county to align with the state, and Wert said existing state orders didn’t preclude short-term rentals.
"We looked at the state order and the state guidance, and there was nothing in there that said they couldn’t open," Wert said.
The county also wanted to ensure that people would have a place to stay in the event that Joshua Tree National Park reopens, Wert said.
"The concern is that people are going to visit out there and not have any place to stay," he said.
The move doesn’t extend to hotels and motels for leisure travel. Wert said those properties represent a higher risk level, due to common areas and frequency of guests coming in from multiple places.
Tourism is a growing industry for San Bernardino County, with the park being a mainstay attraction that drew a record of nearly 3 million visitors last year. Visitor spending countywide totaled $5.3 billion in 2018.
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In neighboring Riverside County, public health officials and cities have also wrestled with short-term rentals during the coronavirus pandemic.
Riverside County Public Health Officer Dr. Cameron Kaiser issued an order on April 2 outlining that short-term rentals could only be allowed for COVID-19 mitigation and containment measures, as well as for essential workers performing functions needed to maintain operations of critical infrastructure.
But the order was rescinded on May 9, following a Board of Supervisors vote that directed Kaiser to rescind several local public health orders.
Throughout the pandemic, several cities in the Coachella Valley have approved local restrictions on short-term rentals and limited their use. Cathedral City and Indio are among two cities that have such requirements.
Smaller Southern California communities, such as Big Bear Lake and Idyllwild, warned visitors to stay away because they were concerned their infrastructures could not handle the capacity of increased populations during the pandemic.
Wert said that concern has been alleviated by the metrics San Bernardino County is seeing around hospitalization rates. The number of intensive care unit beds and ventilators in use has been “very flat,” Wert said.
As of Saturday, the county had 49 COVID-19 patients in ICU beds, and 153 beds available. There are 277 ventilators in use, and 562 available, yielding a utilization rate of 33%.
"They’re beating projections and they’re way, way below surge capacity," Wert said. "Back in early April, when we issued that ban, we didn’t know what hospital capacity was going to be."
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Melissa Daniels covers business in the Coachella Valley. She can be reached at (760)-567-8458, melissa.daniels@desertsun.com, or on Twitter @melissamdaniels.
Shane Newell covers breaking news and the western Coachella Valley cities of Palm Springs, Cathedral City and Desert Hot Springs. He can be reached at shane.newell@desertsun.com or on Twitter at @journoshane.
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Short-term rentals allowed to operate in San Bernardino County, official confirms - Desert Sun
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