Business Ambassadors in Ventura County help businesses comply with health guidelines

VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. -- Nearly all Ventura County businesses are in compliance with COVID-19 health guidelines. The Business Ambassadors Program is helping to make sure state guidelines are followed.

Christian Rodriguez is an Environmental Health Specialist ambassador with Ventura County.

"The process that we are taking right now is a consultation inspection'" Rodriguez said. "It is not like a normal routine inspection that we would conduct on a normal basis."

Inspectors sit down with store managers and go over the safety changes they've made. Then there's a short inspection.

"These inspections are purely for educational purposes. We come in as ambassadors, just trying to educate the owners, and trying to give them information, and trying to help them comply with State guidelines. It is not to catch them in the act of doing anything wrong. It is just to help them to make sure they are following those guidelines," Rodriguez said.

There are 20 inspectors throughout Ventura County who check on businesses. This is on top of the "strike teams" Gov. Newsom dispatched, which are comprised of state inspectors.

The state's team visited more than 630 businesses and 99% were in compliance. It is likely that the ambassadors had already visited the businesses beforehand.

"I believe the environmental health division has inspected around 6,700 facilities since we started doing these inspections back in March. Ventura County has been doing a pretty successful job in trying to contain the spread," Rodriguez said.

The State did issue three citations for indoor dining and in cases where employees were not wearing face coverings.