[Genuine Realist]

This would make more sense if the severe lockdown had not been overextended (in my opinion) causing much more stress than necessary. 

The sticking point in SCC has been testing, which has been at about a quarter of the level daily that is apparently thought necessary to detect whether a phase of reopening is causing too rapid a rise in cases. Whether that's true, and if so whether it should be overridden by the economic urgency, is unclear to me. Also there should be some differentiation within counties: at a minimum the north part of SCC should have been able to reopen already. I do think, as a structural matter, that that public health officers should not have sole power to make these decisions at this point in the pandemic. Better to have elected officials balance the trade-offs.

Elected officials do have this power.  Governor Newsom could easily have issued an order releasing the full state at the same time.

He could have lifted his own order across the entire state. He did not do so however. However, I believe any County Health Department can issue their own, more stringent orders at any time, as the 7 Bay Area counties did initially. Such orders can open part of the county but not other parts.  

The government needs to pay for these trackers, it probably should be the federal government since many citizens outside of CA can live and work in different states.

I don't agree. That argument applies to everything, including local police. If it wasn't obvious before, it should be clear by now that relying on the Federal Government for epidemic control has big down sides.

Still, got to hire and train trackers ASAP with the goal of keeping all of them active until at least March 2021.

Agree we need to hire and train trackers ASAP. The goal has to be keeping them active and available forever, not 2021. Korea, Taiwan, etc. have demonstrated how it has to work. Many of these people can have other jobs, like policemen, firemen, etc. but they must be "on call" when the next epidemic starts. You can't just wave a magic wand and have such a capability show up. When you need it, you need it RTFN.

Boy, that's harder than it seems. We have never had this need before. We might never have it again for a few centuries.

There's a famous story abut a guard posted by a small flower bed in one of the Czar's palaces in St. Petersburg. Every day the guard would change, 24 hours, different watches, the works. But no one knew why, what was so important with this flowerbed that it was watched so intensely. This went on through most of the 19th Century. Finally, someone took the time to find out WHY the flowerbed was being guarded. It took research into a hundred years of palace orders, to find out that Catherine the Great had placed the guard there when there were some new and rare geraniums she wanted protected. The geraniums were long gone, as was Catherine, but the order had never been rescinded. And so a totally useless guard was kept for over a century.

Maybe you could include it in National Guard protocols, or police affiliates, or some such, so you have a useful cadre of volunteers at the ready. It  would also fit neatly into the rubric of national service, in which I believe. But a dedicated unit? Might turn into another flower guard thing.

[Genuine Realist]

This would make more sense if the severe lockdown had not been overextended (in my opinion) causing much more stress than necessary. 

The sticking point in SCC has been testing, which has been at about a quarter of the level daily that is apparently thought necessary to detect whether a phase of reopening is causing too rapid a rise in cases. Whether that's true, and if so whether it should be overridden by the economic urgency, is unclear to me. Also there should be some differentiation within counties: at a minimum the north part of SCC should have been able to reopen already. I do think, as a structural matter, that that public health officers should not have sole power to make these decisions at this point in the pandemic. Better to have elected officials balance the trade-offs.

Elected officials do have this power.  Governor Newsom could easily have issued an order releasing the full state at the same time.

He could have lifted his own order across the entire state. He did not do so however. However, I believe any County Health Department can issue their own, more stringent orders at any time, as the 7 Bay Area counties did initially. Such orders can open part of the county but not other parts.  

The government needs to pay for these trackers, it probably should be the federal government since many citizens outside of CA can live and work in different states.

I don't agree. That argument applies to everything, including local police. If it wasn't obvious before, it should be clear by now that relying on the Federal Government for epidemic control has big down sides.

Still, got to hire and train trackers ASAP with the goal of keeping all of them active until at least March 2021.

Agree we need to hire and train trackers ASAP. The goal has to be keeping them active and available forever, not 2021. Korea, Taiwan, etc. have demonstrated how it has to work. Many of these people can have other jobs, like policemen, firemen, etc. but they must be "on call" when the next epidemic starts. You can't just wave a magic wand and have such a capability show up. When you need it, you need it RTFN.

Boy, that's harder than it seems. We have never had this need before. We might never have it again for a few centuries.

There's a famous story abut a guard posted by a small flower bed in one of the Czar's palaces in St. Petersburg. Every day the guard would change, 24 hours, different watches, the works. But no one knew why, what was so important with this flowerbed that it was watched so intensely. This went on through most of the 19th Century. Finally, someone took the time to find out WHY the flowerbed was being guarded. It took research into a hundred years of palace orders, to find out that Catherine the Great had placed the guard there when there were some new and rare geraniums she wanted protected. The geraniums were long gone, as was Catherine, but the order had never been rescinded. And so a totally useless guard was kept for over a century.

Maybe you could include it in National Guard protocols, or police affiliates, or some such, so you have a useful cadre of volunteers at the ready. It  would also fit neatly into the rubric of national service, in which I believe. But a dedicated unit? Might turn into another flower guard thing.