Through the spring and summer of 2020, the Mill Valley community locked arms with local small businesses, donating to the Chamber's COVID-19 Mill Valley Business Fund, our campaign to raise funds for as many $1,000 direct cash grants as possible at a moment of crisis amidst the pandemic.

You donated, en masse, raising nearly $100,000 to support almost 100 grants to businesses. Due to the ever-murky prospects for local Mill Valley businesses on the horizon, we're hoping you'll take the opportunity to support your local community again, in a slightly different but no-less-meaningful way.

The biggest differences this time are that you have the ability to designate your donation specifically to your favorite business(es) and your donation is tax-deductible via MarinLink.org, our fiscal custodian and nonprofit partner. To make a donation online by credit card, click the Donate button below to be directed to the MarinLink website. 

Indicate recipient(s) in the "In Honor of" portion of the form – we'll split the donation evenly among them. If you don't designate a business, we will pool not-designated donations to support the continued creation of $1,000 direct cash grants to the businesses that applied to our GoFundMe campaign in the spring and summer but weren't fulfilled with the funds raised.

Way back in the early days of the COVID-19 crisis, just after the first Bay Area shelter-in-place order, the Mill Valley Chamber worked feverishly to hunt every form of relief for Mill Valley businesses.

One form of relief proved a tough nut to crack: property tax relief, i.e., the County of Marin providing a way for people to pay their property taxes late but avoid paying the late fees and penalties associated with doing so.

As a result of Governor Newsom’s earlier Executive Order N-61-20, small commercial businesses can apply for a property tax PENALTY waiver, but still have to pay the base tax.

According to data from our Public Records Act request last month, the vast majority of property tax penalty waiver applications were successful:

Per County of Marin's Dept. of Finance: "As of November 24, 2020, we have the following Requests for Cancellation of Penalty from small businesses:
40           Approved
13           Pending
1             Denied                 
54           Total small business requests."
​
The last day to submit payment of base taxes AND the Penalty waiver request/justification is May 6, which would cover the taxes due this December 10 AND April 10, 2021.

You need to submit separate requests for the Dec 10th and April 10th payment dates.

If you do not want to submit your request online, please print the Request for Penalty Cancellation PDF form and mail it with your tax payment to this address:
Marin County Tax Collector
ATTN: Penalty Cancellation
P.O. Box 4220
San Rafael, CA 94913-4220

Questions? Contact the Department of Finance here or at 415.473.6133.

Contact the Mill Valley Chamber here.

As you may have heard, Marin County Public Health Officer Dr. Matt Willis indicated this week that Marin’s COVID-19 metrics continue to improve to the point that we could advance to the “orange” tier 2 within the statewide Blueprint for a Safer Economy framework as soon as Oct. 27, a move that would allow several business sectors, including restaurants, to move from 25% to 50% density indoors.

Many business owners have said that getting to 50% density was the minimum they’d need to be able to create a business model that might pencil out, e.g., takeout/delivery + some outdoor dining + some indoor dining for restaurants.

So in the (fingers-crossed) hope that increased density guidelines improve later this month, we wanted to help you take the necessary steps to improve your restaurant, cafe or retail space and protect your employees and customers by maximizing the amount of outside air being delivered to your space.

To do so, Mill Valley Lumber Yard’s Matt and Jan Mathews and Equator Coffees’ Helen Russell reached out to Dr. William Ristenpart, a professor of chemical engineering at UC Davis and director of the university’s Coffee Center for a tutorial on the science of airborne disease transmission and how to reduce airborne disease transmission in your business.

The nearly two-hour presentation is embedded in full below and chock full of excellent detail about how airborne diseases like coronavirus are transmitted and what you can do to improve the safety of your space. But in our continued mindfulness of your time, we’ve distilled the presentation below:

Early in the COVID-19 era, scientists focused on transmission via contact (handshakes) and fomite (door handles). But now there is a lot of evidence pointing to “aerosol” – droplets or simply breath – as a major form of transmission, says Ristenpart, with people getting infected in spaces in which they had no direct contact with an infected person. Also, studies have shown that as many as 86% of transmissions come from people with “mild, limited or no symptoms.”

Despite repeated mixed signals from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in recent weeks, a group of aerosol scientists reported that "there is overwhelming evidence that inhalation represents a major transmission route.”

“Plume” vs “Room”
Respiratory plumes, or particle emissions from people who are simply breathing and talking, particularly in close proximity, can be potent forms of transmission, as speech emits a large amount of particles, and the louder you are, the more particles that come out.

“This can potentially be the biggest source of transmission from asymptomatic people,” Ristenpart says. Room transmission is caused by long distance aerosol spread through a room. Though the transmission occurs in lower concentrations, it can be a significant factor depending on the air flow, and the amount of fresh air circulation within a space.

“All the people that were infected at the top part were in the middle of this recirculatory air conditioning flow,” Ristenpart says of the graphic below. “And the longer you’re exposed to the pathogens the more you are likely to inhale.”

Determine “Room Volume”: The starting point for you to figure out how to improve the air flow within your space is length x width x height or, more simply, square footage x height.

Determine “Ventilation Flow Rate”: This crucial measurement of the amount of air change per hour is critically important, Ristenpart says. HVAC units supply air from the central air handler and recirculates it with fresh air, and it is highly recommended that those buildings with HVAC units contact an HVAC technician to help them through the process of determining how many cubic feet per hour of fresh air are you delivering to your space, and what must be done to improve it.

CDC guidelines call for small restaurants, for instance, to have four air changes per hour, depending on the size of the space, while the National Comfort Institute calls for 8-10 air flow changes per hour in dining areas.

Here are recommendations to make your space as safe as possible for you, your customers and your employees:

• Be wary of your use of conditioners: Comfort is obviously important, Ristenpart notes, and central air conditioners typically deliver fresh air and/or filters the recirculated air (assuming you have inline filtration). But he cautions against ductless AC air conditioning unless there is an introduction of outdoor air and/or additional HEPA filtering used in conjunction with it.

• Masks are mandatory: Require customers to keep masks on at all times except when they are actively sipping their coffee and eating food. Face shields may block plume transmission but not room transmission, so mask usage is critical. The same is true with plastic partitions, as plumes can simply travel around partitions. Partitions may be useful if deployed in very   high interaction locations. 
• Increase your ventilation: Find out what the “air changes per hour” is in your space and if you need to improve it. “By far the best ventilation is being outside, as the air changes per hour is essentially infinite,” Ristenpart says. “And open the windows as much as possible. Use window fans or freestanding fans to help direct air from outside.
• If your building has an HVAC unit, get advice from a technician on how best to maximize the amount of outside air being delivered to your space – recirculation is not ventilation, so it won't be effective to turn on a ceiling fan. Ristenpart suggested what he called a crude but clear analogy: “That would be like peeing in a bathtub and saying ‘I’m going to clean it up by stirring it.’”
• Get an air purifier: “They are fantastic,” Ristenpart says. When buying a purifier, focus on the MERV rating, or the “minimum efficiency reporting value.” The higher the rating, the more small particles it catches. ASHRAE, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, recommends a MERV rating of at least 13-14. 
• Locate as much of your air purification and fresh air inflow efforts in areas where employees and customers cluster most frequently. 
• Limit your exposure: Encourage brief and quiet use of your space. Perhaps set time limits on reservations or appointments. Encourage outdoor use after a sales transaction. If your space has music playing, keep the volume down to discourage loud conversations.
• Encourage employees to stay at home if they’re feeling sick and get rid of policies that encourage policies to work despite illness.

In the days leading up to the official Bay Area shelter-in-place order in March, the Mill Valley Chamber feverishly hunted for every form of relief for Mill Valley businesses amidst the Covid-19 outbreak.

That included a ban on evictions related to income loss due to COVID-19, all manner of loans and grants (including the new PPP), timely webinars  and unemployment benefit tutorials.

But one form of relief proved to be a tough nut to crack: property tax relief, i.e., the County of Marin providing a way for people to pay their property taxes late but avoid paying the late fees and penalties associated with doing so.

At the time, Roy Given, the County of Marin's director of finance, said he was unable to waive lates fees and penalties prior to the April 10th property tax filing deadline. But he did allow that COVID-19 and its horrific economic impacts will be a consideration for those applying for a Penalty Waiver with the Tax Collector.

For the 2020-21 property tax cycle, Marin County homeowners and commercial property owners directly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic will have until May 5, 2021 to apply for extra time to pay their property taxes without a penalty.

Given mailed Marin County’s 91,184 tax bills on Sept. 25. The 2020-2021 tax roll amounted to $1.22 billion, up 5.73% over the previous year, according to the Marin Independent Journal.

Property tax bills are normally payable in two installments – at least half due Nov. 1 that must be paid before Dec. 10 to avoid a penalty. The remainder of the bill must be paid by April 10, 2021.

Due to an executive order issued by Gov. Gavin Newsom in March, homeowners and small businesses may be eligible for late penalty forgiveness if they meet certain conditions.

Taxpayers seeking an exemption from penalties must demonstrate to the tax collector that they have “suffered economic hardship and/or an inability to tender payment of taxes due to the COVID-19 pandemic, or any local, state or federal response to COVID-19” for the request to be approved.

Penalty cancellation requests must be submitted with tax payment, penalty payment, and interest by May 5, 2021. If the application is approved, the penalties and interest paid will be returned to the taxpayer.

Parameters for the penalty cancellation program were set by Newsom’s order and since then guidelines have been provided by the state Controller’s Office.

Under the current rules, owners of rental properties can apply for penalty waivers if they hold an active county business license and meet small business standards for average annual receipts or number of employees.

Property taxes accounted for nearly 36% of Marin County’s revenue in fiscal year 2019-20 and also helped fund local schools and special districts. Marin County is more dependent on property tax than ever since state funding, which relies heavily on sales tax revenue, is threatened by COVID-19, according to the IJ.

​MORE INFO.

There have been no shortage of takeaways from the economic carnage of the COVID-19 crisis, but one of the major ones for business owners is the critical need to innovate.

With that in mind, the Marin SBDC and all of the Chambers of Commerce in Marin are collaborating on a quartet of virtual workshops designed to help you drive demand for your business in this new era, when a robust, nimble online presence is critically important. 

The workshops will cover Facebook, Instagram, Google Ads and LinkedIn, with each event spanning 90 minutes (10am-11:30am) and providing plenty of time for questions. 

​Click on the image above left for more info on each workshop. Registration links for each are below. 

Facebook - Sept 23
https://norcalsbdc.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIod-6urT8pH9ZnJUsATKLBokUGAV15tV8J 

Instagram - Sept 30
https://norcalsbdc.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMof--rqTssHtM62WYpKFAQH7cza3gYld0q

Google Adwords -  Oct 7
https://norcalsbdc.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcvf-2ppzgoHNBfpDo1a0DVyBvx6rdnqf9p

LinkedIN - Oct 14
https://norcalsbdc.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwrduugrzoiEtbEwk6nkLEQYtY-xyv6EugZ 

MORE INFO ON THE MARIN SBDC.

With the wet, wintry months on the near-horizon, business owners must think about the road ahead, particularly when it comes to staffing.

Here's some potentially good news for business owners juggling your ever-shifting staffing needs and your desire to keep your fantastic employees connected to your business amidst the most topsy-turvy moment in your business' history.

A little-known and rarely used state unemployment insurance program subsidizes the wages of workers who are kept on the payroll with reduced hours instead of laid off. The program — known as work sharing — allows businesses to keep and retain that talent, so when things tick back up, you’ve still got your employees, and it allows those employees to pay their bills and stick with you through the hard times.

Work sharing programs are extraordinarily popular among economists, Republican and Democratic policymakers, employers and workers — at least those who have heard of them. The problem is that few have, even though economists say work sharing is one of the best ways to strengthen the labor market during a downturn.

Of the nearly 30 million people receiving unemployment benefits, only 309,000 — 1 percent — are getting them through a shared work program.

Congress sweetened the program’s appeal during the pandemic, promising as part of the CARES Act that the federal government would pick up the cost from the states through the end of the year, without an overall cap, but nearly half of all states still don’t have such a program.

“I’m sick of this being the ‘best kept secret,’” Suzan LeVine, commissioner of Washington’s Employment Security Department, told the New York Times about the program, officially titled short-time compensation. “It is the diamond in the rough of the unemployment benefits system.”

Work sharing is widely credited with saving jobs and easing the pain and severity of economic downturns. But while popular in Germany and other advanced industrial countries, such programs have had trouble gaining traction in the United States, where job protection laws are comparatively weak and layoffs are a ready solution when revenues drop.

States aren’t required to offer short-time compensation, and many choose not to devote the resources — like funds for updated computer technology — to create and run such a program.

One of the biggest problems, said Kevin Hassett, former chairman of President Trump’s Council of Economic Advisers and a longtime champion of the approach, is that most employers and workers simply don’t know about it.

California does indeed offer a work sharing program. Find the details here. 

Although program rules can vary by state, companies must apply individually, and file a separate plan for each unit or category of workers. Employees are paid an hourly wage for the time they work, and receive state unemployment benefits for the hours they don’t. Though the program involves paperwork for employers, those who've used it said its benefits far outweighed the burdens.

Employers preserve their relationships with workers and avoid the costs of ramping back up and retraining. Workers avoid layoffs while retaining access to their health insurance and a steady income. And they have a better chance of fending off the longer-term side effects that often accompany layoffs, like permanently reduced income.

The federal Paycheck Protection Program, which offered forgivable loans to businesses that kept workers on the payroll, had a similar goal. But work sharing continues to help prop up businesses facing a slow recovery by allowing their staffs to divide the available hours.

For states, which have been clobbered by zooming costs and plunging tax revenues, work sharing is like finding a winning lottery ticket tucked away in a drawer. Many states have exhausted their unemployment insurance trust funds — which are financed by taxing employers — and been forced to borrow from the federal government to continue paying benefits.

With work sharing, the federal government pays the bill. As of July, Michigan had saved at least $212 million in unemployment pay, said Mr. Donofrio, who enlarged the program’s staff, had the state’s computers reprogrammed and streamlined the application process.

It can also mean significantly lower costs in the future for employers, whose unemployment insurance tax rates increase when layoffs rise. “A lot of businesses are saying this is too good to be true,” he said. “It seems like a solution to a lot of our problems.”

“There are huge incentives to players to use it and for states to promote it,” she said.

MORE INFO ON CALIFORNIA'S WORK SHARING PROGRAM.

Let us use this deeply unfortunate incident to continue the community conversation in Mill Valley about racial equity and specifically the dozens of Mill Valley BIPOC business owners' interactions with local police. We want to hear about your interactions with MVPD officers - bad, good or otherwise - particularly as the City of MV introduces DEI Task Force facilitator on Sept. 8. Email us here.

Yema Khalif and Hawi Awash, owners of the Yema apparel shop on Main Street in downtown Tiburon, were working late into the night on inventory when they were confronted by Tiburon police officers about why they were in the store at that hour. The confrontation escalated and was recorded (video below), sparking outrage in that community as the country continues to grapple with horrific confrontations with the police, the latest of which occurred with the shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin on Aug. 23.

"After it was over I was shaking," Awash told the Marin IJ. "My whole body was shaking and I could not make it stop. It was fear. It came from knowing that in one split second they could end someone's life."

In the video that begins shortly after the encounter began, police seek for Khalif to show them his identification to prove that is the owner of the store. Khalif declines, saying that a white business owner would not be asked to prove his ownership of the store in the same situation. Officers quickly grow frustrated and the exchange escalates. 

A Change.org petition calling for the firing of one of the officers involved in the incident has achieved nearly 1,000 signatures. 

"I cannot lie and say I'm OK," Khalif told the IJ. "I'm traumatized and my wife is traumatized."

In the video, Tiburon Sgt. Michael Blasi says, "Do you want us to look out for the community or do you want us to let anybody walk in here at 2 o'clock in the morning and steal all your stuff? You sure? 'Cause you don't sound like you're very grateful. You sound very defensive."

Moments later, a neighbor can be heard telling police that Khalif is indeed the store owner. Blasi and two other officers then leave.

"Whatever the intention of the responding offices, the interchange inappropriately deteriorated from helpful to confrontational," Tiburon Mayor Alice Fredericks wrote in an email sent to the community. "Tiburon police officers are trained and held to the highest standards of conduct. A key component of that training is the expectation that our officers will utilize de-escalation techniques in situations like there. It is clear that did not occur in this instance."

Police Chief Michael Cronin said the town has engaged the services of an independent attorney to conduct an investigation into the incident. "At the conclusion of the investigation the report will be provided to the Town Manager for review and appropriate action will be taken based on the findings of the investigator," Cronin told the IJ.

Tiburon Police released footage from an officer's body camera during the incident.
​VIEW IT HERE.

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE OR BELOW.

Keep Marin Working (KMW), a collaborative of diverse Marin organizations whose purpose is to coordinate and strengthen the voice of business throughout the county and take positions to create a more business-friendly climate. This group includes the North Bay Leadership Council, Marin Realtors Association, Marin Economic Forum, Marin Builders Association, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Marin, San Rafael Chamber of Commerce, Latino Council and Novato Chamber of Commerce.

The members of KMW urge the Board of Supervisors, City and Town Councils of Marin to take immediate action to spur the economic recovery of the County. The shock from the pandemic and subsequent recession is unlike anything experienced before and demands urgent attention and action to help recover, rebuild and reset the County’s economy for the good of the businesses, nonprofits, workers and local governments who rely on a strong, thriving economic ecosystem. 

In assessing the current economic situation and envisioning what is needed to take us to the next normal for economic vitality and competitiveness, KMW recommends adopting the 10 Point Economic Recovery Plan Framework below. We are committed to further develop this plan to create a public-private partnership that will implement the plan's objectives and actionable efforts, once we receive input and support from the Board and City/Town Councils.

10 Point Economic Recovery Plan Framework

1. CREATION OF A MARIN COUNTY RECOVERY AND LONG-TERM ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY: A Strategic Marin Plan should be created to reflect the new realities of 2020. The strategy will define activities to support existing businesses while planning for the expansion and attraction of new businesses to fill gaps caused by the pandemic. The workforce needs to be aligned and equipped to meet the new demands of businesses affected and created in response to COVID-19. This will require an immediate identification and collection of countywide economic data to begin the process. By identifying workforce, resources, real estate and industries that represent the region, we can determine strategic sectors that will lead to job creation and new investment in the county.” These are more traditional outcomes of strategies.  
2. DIVERSIFY THE ECONOMY: Major sectors that have been a large part of the Marin County economy have been impacted by the pandemic and recession and are predicted to be unable to return to their pre-pandemic levels. Along with the creation of a long term economic development plan, an assessment should be made of those losses and a study done to determine what sectors could be targeted to help diversify the economy and what initiatives can be taken to foster that diversification to bring in new businesses, particularly higher paying job opportunities in technology, “green-tech,” and other sectors, that will provide new revenue to help fill the hole of the sectors that will be declining.
   1. Provide access and available capital to the underserved communities that often are overlooked: Many underserved business owners need financial assistance and business support for their survival. These assistance programs should be provided in Spanish and other languages where needed. 
3. PROVIDE REGULATORY RELIEF: The business community and nonprofit community are hanging by a thread to survive. Every effort should be made to provide regulatory relief in this crisis and to not add any new financial burdens as they struggle. The County, Cities and Towns should hit the pause button on all existing regulatory policies – including consideration and adoption of new policies and nonessential regulatory functions – not urgently needed to protect human health and extend the time to implement rules that have not yet taken effect. This should include:   
   1. No new fees or fee increases 
   2. No new mandates that cost business like paid sick leave, rent relief, etc. 
   3. Minimizing or suspending all county regulations that impede business recovery such as insignificant permitting or zoning requirements, environmental health department code requirements and other regulations that hinder small businesses from being nimble in these uncertain times. 
4. FOCUS ON RETENTION AND EXPANSION OF CURRENT EMPLOYERS: Support the Marin Economic Forum’s existing business retention and expansion efforts initiated through the county-funded “Marin County Business Retention & Expansion Project” (“the Project”) launched in 2019. This may require additional County/City/Town funding for additional staff and resources. MEF has identified challenges and opportunities in the “Phase 1 Report” of the Project which serves as the basis for regulatory and competitiveness needs, issues and policies that would be the driver of this effort. Business retention and expansion efforts will be integrated into the proposed economic strategy (#1 above) but the outreach and communication of the commitment to retention and expansion should start now. MEF would serve as leader in the Cities, Towns and County to help retain and expand the current business base.  
5. INVEST IN INFRASTRUCTURE: Now is the time to make investments in infrastructure that will improve the County’s ability to create well-paying jobs, improve the economic infrastructure, take advantage of low interest rates, and reduce climate change impacts. Transportation improvements are needed and should be implemented. It is important to build a county-wide broadband system, upgrade the network where possible, for remote learning and telework.  
   1. Renewed effort in job creation around construction by ensuring construction jobs remain operational and are safe for workers and offer upskill training.
   2. Non-punitive programs to encourage or incentivize retrofitting of buildings to help decarbonize them and adapt to changing commercial needs as businesses shrink their footprints due to more telework should be developed. 
   3. Shovel ready pavement overlay projects should be prioritized as they are the fastest way to improve our roads and get the dollars back into the economy.
6. MAKE HOUSING A TOP PRIORITY: Based on the enormous housing shortage in Marin, it is essential that the County begin to break down the barriers to create more housing stock at all level of incomes. Currently, many developers do not consider the County based on the high fees, permit requirements and public sentiment. Not only would this create much needed housing, it would also create a new revenue for the County. Zoning changes should be explored for commercial zoning to mixed use or residential where feasible.   
7. GIVE PREFERENCES TO LOCAL VENDORS: The pandemic has shown the importance of having a local supply chain including food and local services. It has also shown that we need redundancy in that supply chain. The County should look at essential products and services and ensure that They are giving preference to local companies. Purchasing should be from local vendors and providing support to those vendors should be considered. There are also opportunities to bring more manufacturing to the County as a part of a regional plan to localize more manufacturing in our state and country.   
   1. Support agriculture: As part of “Go Local” program, there should be incentives to create more local markets for County grown and/or created food products. 
   2. The cannabis sector has great growth potential that has been stymied through a variety of obstacles. Those barriers that the county controls should be removed to help the cannabis sector grow to increase County revenues and create more jobs. 
8. STRENGTHEN WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT IN UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES: Place an emphasis on our county-wide, and regional workforce development organizations, and educational programs, as well as career pathways throughout the county, but especially in underserved areas in Marin such as the Canal Neighborhood, Marin City, Novato and West Marin.  Enhance and financially support information and resource (I&R) systems like 211 so that underserved communities get information in regard to training or services that are available. Creating a communication road map could benefit these communities greatly.  
   1. Improve access to multilingual, multicultural resources for underserved communities of color 
   2. Strengthen infrastructure that increases internet and technology access for all
   3. Increase collaborative business partnerships with higher education that result in paid internship and apprenticeship opportunities
   4. Provide resources to support an aging workforce (e.g. technology skill building)
   5. Create innovative toolkit to encourage telework and workforce reskilling.  There are many reasons organizations opt to offer flexible work arrangements, including: lower operating costs, less employee turnover, higher employee satisfaction and greater hiring flexibility 
   6.  Assess the workers who have been displaced by the economic shock and create training programs to reskill or upskill them so that they can fill the jobs in Marin County
9. CREATE SOLUTIONS TO CHILDCARE SHORTAGE: Workers cannot return to work if there is no one to care for their children. The pandemic has hit the childcare sector very hard and caused a great loss of available childcare slots due to new requirements for social distancing. Subsidies to help childcare providers stay open while not being able to operate a full capacity should be considered.   Support the goals of the Marin Child Care Commission’s 2020-2025 Master Plan, including addressing inadequate licensed supply for infant/toddler age care and school age care, lack of subsidized child care slots for working families with financial need and ensure that licensed and licensed-exempt child care facilities are staffed with a high-quality workforce.  
10. CHANGE LAND USE AND ZONING TO REFLECT NEW REALITY: The pandemic and recession have changed how businesses will operate going forward. There needs to be flexibility in the zoning and land use regulations to allow businesses to pivot to new models of operations or production. Zoning changes should include changing commercial zoning to mixed use or residential where feasible.

1. A case is identified
2. A MCHHS Contact Investigator contacts the case to gather information and among other things, identifies the employer of the case (if applicable)
3. If the case works at a residential facility for the elderly, an outbreak team responds to address the workplace exposure in this vulnerable population
4. If the case is employed outside the home and the CI is concerned about possible work exposure, the case information is sent to a Business Investigator
5. The Business Investigator contacts the business to inform them of their positive employee and guide them on next steps

When does this guidance apply?

1. When any staff has either a lab test confirmed case or healthcare provider diagnosed case of COVID-19 and
2. When any staff was at work 48 hours before symptoms started or if they have no symptoms, was at work 48 hours before receiving their positive test result.

What should a business do when an employee tests positive?

• Report: Immediately notify any COVID-19 case to Marin Public Health at 415-473-2957 or to Covid19results@marincounty.org
• Maintain confidentiality: Do not release the names of sick person or close contacts to anyone at the workplace, unless they give you permission.
• Identify and Quarantine close contacts: Determine close contacts of the sick person and have them quarantine at home. Close contacts:
  • Are people who been within 6 feet of the sick person for more than 15 minutes
  • Should stay at home for 14 days from the day the sick person was last at work
  • We recommend close contacts be tested 5 days or later after last day of contact with case
• Persons who have tested positive can return to work if they meet these three requirements:
  • It has been 10 days since positive test result or onset of symptoms
  • AND improvement in respiratory symptoms
  • AND no fever without the use of fever reducing medication in the past 72 hours

MCPH does not recommend repeat COVID testing. We do not recommend requiring COVID-positive employees test negative for COVID-19 before returning to work.

• Educate staff: Provide staff with a printed copy of Home Isolation and Quarantine Guidelines (available in Spanish)
• Monitor for symptoms: All other employees who were at the physical workplace 48 hours before the sick person was sent home should monitor themselves for symptoms for 14 days from the last day the sick person was a work (see symptoms list below).
  • fevers
  • chills
  • cough
  • shortness of breath
  • fatigue
  • muscle or body aches
  • headache
  • new loss of taste or smell
  • sore throat
  • congestion or runny nose
  • nausea or vomiting
  • diarrhea
• Institute cleaning and disinfection measures: Ensure proper cleaning as recommended by the CDC HERE. 
• Ensure employees use prevention best practices to stop the spread of COVID-19:
  • Wear a face covering properly (covering mouth AND nose) at all times
  • Frequent wash hands with soap and water for a full 20 seconds (preferred or use an alcohol-based sanitizer
  • Avoid touching your face
  • Using a tissue or your elbow for coughs and sneezes – DO NOT use hand to cover
  • Keep social distancing (keep 6 feet away from others)

• Families First Coronavirus Response Act-requires small employers (<500 employees) to provide limited paid-leave benefits to employees affected by the coronavirus emergency
• California’s COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave Order- provides up to 80 hours of “COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave” to defined food sector workers in businesses with > 500 employees
• Marin County Supervisors have allocated funds to a wage support program for low-income coronavirus carriers​
• For the most up-to-date Coronavirus and COVID-19 info, visit the CDC. 
• For up-to-date Marin information visit the Marin County COVID-19 Information Portal at coronavirus.marinhhs.org

GO HERE for information about reopening businesses and economic assistance.

NOTE: County Sets Up Free Weekly Testing for Restaurant Workers
As County officials have said in recent weeks, while 16% of Marin’s population is Latino, Marin’s Latino community has accounted for 74% of the county’s coronavirus infections and 13% of the deaths caused by the virus. To directly confront that grave problem, the county has set up a free weekly COVID-19 testing site for restaurant workers. Every Thursday, 1-3pm, restaurant workers can get tested for free at First Missionary Baptist Church at 501 Drake Ave. in Marin City. MORE INFO.

As County officials have said in recent weeks, while 16% of Marin’s population is Latino, Marin’s Latino community has accounted for 74% of the county’s coronavirus infections and 13% of the deaths caused by the virus. To directly confront that grave problem, the county has set up a free weekly COVID-19 testing site for restaurant workers. Every Thursday, 1-3pm, restaurant workers can get tested for free at First Missionary Baptist Church at 501 Drake Ave. in Marin City. MORE INFO.

​Here's a comprehensive rundown of what Marin County Public Health and business owners must do in the event that an employee tests positive for coronavirus.