Truckee, Placer County are asking tourists to stay away for now

Jul. 24--To help control the coronavirus pandemic, Placer County and the town of Truckee have come together to discourage tourists from visiting on weekends through August 17.

The region in the Sierra Nevada centered around Lake Tahoe becomes a hub of tourism in the summer months and even amid the pandemic visitor numbers have been high, according to some officials.

A statement released Thursday from Placer County and the town located in Nevada County says "an exceptionally busy influx of weekend visitors" has made it difficult to "practice safe physical distancing."

Placer County District 5 Supervisor Cindy Gustafson said the statement is focused on day trippers or people without reservations.

"Please come if you have a reservation," said Gustafson. "We just want you to plan ahead and have a reservation so you don't end up camping on the side of road."

Placer County is on the state's watch list for increased transmission and across the past 14 days has seen a 57% increase in hospitalizations and 128.6% rise in ICU numbers. The county positivity rate is 5.8%. The positivity rate is the percentage of people who test positive for the virus of all of individuals who are tested. In the event of a surge, it reveals whether an increase can be explained by increased testing.

Truckee is located in Nevada County that isn't on the state watch list. The county's positivity rate is 2.5%. Hospitalizations are up 50% across 14 days and there's only one patient in the ICU.

With our current environment of uncertainty, and many of our businesses already having to take measures to reduce or close their operations due to an increase in COVID-19 cases, safety must be our top priority," said Gustafson in a statement. "We cannot risk a further surge in COVID-19 cases and want to discourage visitation on weekends during what has historically been our peak summer visitation period, and instead see that visitation occur in what are historically less busy time periods in the late summer and fall."

Truckee Mayor David Polivy added, "We have seen substantial issues with parking, camping, calls for service, complaints about trash, large groups not distancing, and overcrowding in public areas and trails. These issues are all important in preserving our region, and keeping our residents and visitors safe and healthy while also keeping our business community viable."

Amy Graff is the news editor for SFGATE. Email her: agraff@sfgate.com.