EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. – Hotels, motels, vacation rentals, and campgrounds are to be used only to house homeless, COVID-19 emergency workers or continue to house residents according to an El Dorado County directive issued on Tuesday. Staying in one of these types of temporary housing is not considered “essential” by Governor Newsom’s March 18th “Stay at Home” order.
El Dorado County’s Public Health Officer, Dr. Nancy Williams, issued the directive to clarify Newsom’s order as it relates to short-term lodging, defined as a period of fewer than 30 days at facilities including hotels, motels, condominiums, campgrounds, other units.
“Despite the Governor’s Order to stay home except when necessary and our continued plea to recreate at home, many residents have flocked to Lake Tahoe and other tourist destinations for nothing more than a change of scenery, allowing for a possible increase in the spread of COVID-19,” Williams said. “This Directive sends a very strong statement: people should get their exercise and change of pace from their own backyards and neighborhoods rather than travel to a different destination and risk carrying the virus to other locales, potentially putting additional strain on a healthcare system that is already limited in its ability to care for its own community.”