The Imperial County Board of Supervisors have requested Governor Gavin Newsom advance the entire state to the Expanded Stage 2 plan to reopen businesses.

The request to the governor was made by the Board in consultation with the County Public Health Department. The letter points out that since March , Imperial County has followed all recommendations and best practices guidelines to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus and all benchmarks have been met except the test positively rate , which remains above the required 8% as set by the Governor. The letter points out that Imperial County is unique as we are adjacent to two other counties within California that are following the state's guidelines and we are also bordered by another state , Arizona , and another country , Mexico , with two different sets of guidelines and metrics , and are in different stages of reopening. The Board's letter also says that if the Expanded Stage 2 is granted , all measures to ensure guidance on how to reopen safely will be followed to reduce the chance of and detrimental effects to the health and safety of residents and visitors to Imperial County.