[Goose]

4) What is the local prevalence of disease? Tightening or relaxing of restrictions has to be dependent on how many cases are out there.  There are probably many parts of rural California that are very low risk and for which local shutdowns may not have been necessary.  Even as much of the rest of the country opens up, there will be local hotspots that won't be able to.

Really important point. One size doesn't fit all, and many areas will start resisting the shutdown if they are low risk and financially damaged. Reason must prevail in both reopening and not reopening. Areas that were not hotspots can become hotspots and will have to go back to shutdown. Everyone needs to understand this going in, or there will be problems.

5) What kind of risk mitigation measures are possible.  These might include things like limiting occupancy to allow effective social distancing (I'm thinking for example of the Dish, which was closed because too many people went).  The Dish probably could be reopened, but only if there are guards allowing one person in for every person who goes out and has hand sanitizer at the entrance and hikers are willing to take risk reduction steps such as using masks.

Maybe a minor point, but AFAIK it wasn't too many people. It was how people behaved. This is the Stanford press release.
"Last week, we implemented additional health and safety measures at the Stanford Dish to allow us to be able to keep the area open as long as possible. Extensive signage and increased staff presence were intended to reinforce and educate Dish users to act responsibly in the interests of the entire community. While many visitors have taken those measures to heart, unfortunately, there have been a persistent minority of individuals who have not complied with these rules and have, therefore, put others at risk. Many community members have expressed their concerns about what they have experienced at the Dish.

We have a responsibility to ensure that anyone on Stanford property follow state and county social distancing guidelines to protect public health and safety. At this time, we regretfully believe the only way to do so is to close the Dish area. We will close all entrances to the Dish at 5 p.m. today, Friday, April 3rd."

And of course all of this is predicated on having testing and contact tracing.

This is the sine qua non of reopening. Without that, another outbreak is inevitable.

[Goose]

4) What is the local prevalence of disease? Tightening or relaxing of restrictions has to be dependent on how many cases are out there.  There are probably many parts of rural California that are very low risk and for which local shutdowns may not have been necessary.  Even as much of the rest of the country opens up, there will be local hotspots that won't be able to.

Really important point. One size doesn't fit all, and many areas will start resisting the shutdown if they are low risk and financially damaged. Reason must prevail in both reopening and not reopening. Areas that were not hotspots can become hotspots and will have to go back to shutdown. Everyone needs to understand this going in, or there will be problems.

5) What kind of risk mitigation measures are possible.  These might include things like limiting occupancy to allow effective social distancing (I'm thinking for example of the Dish, which was closed because too many people went).  The Dish probably could be reopened, but only if there are guards allowing one person in for every person who goes out and has hand sanitizer at the entrance and hikers are willing to take risk reduction steps such as using masks.

Maybe a minor point, but AFAIK it wasn't too many people. It was how people behaved. This is the Stanford press release.
"Last week, we implemented additional health and safety measures at the Stanford Dish to allow us to be able to keep the area open as long as possible. Extensive signage and increased staff presence were intended to reinforce and educate Dish users to act responsibly in the interests of the entire community. While many visitors have taken those measures to heart, unfortunately, there have been a persistent minority of individuals who have not complied with these rules and have, therefore, put others at risk. Many community members have expressed their concerns about what they have experienced at the Dish.

We have a responsibility to ensure that anyone on Stanford property follow state and county social distancing guidelines to protect public health and safety. At this time, we regretfully believe the only way to do so is to close the Dish area. We will close all entrances to the Dish at 5 p.m. today, Friday, April 3rd."

And of course all of this is predicated on having testing and contact tracing.

This is the sine qua non of reopening. Without that, another outbreak is inevitable.