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California Governor Newsom gave the green light on Tuesday for two counties to accelerate their reopening process, and laying out new guidelines for the process.
Newsom listed the following spaces allowed to open its doors again: offices where employees cannot work remotely, strip and outdoor malls, car washes, outdoor museums (like botanical gardens) and pet grooming operations.
While the Bay Area is not relaxing restrictions until at least next Monday, Butte and El Dorado Counties got the all-clear to reopen. Dine-in restaurants and in-store shopping will resume, but with new rules that will eventually apply state-wide.
The new rules for these spaces include the now-open spaces to operate at 50% capacity, 6-feet of separation, no condiments on tables, mandatory face coverings for employees and disposable or online menus only.
Newsom cited a mix of, “optimism, and a sober outlook,” saying while California is making great strides on testing—topping one million statewide now—there’s been a spike in the daily death toll, which went from 25 to 77 in a day.
He said a gradual reopening does not mean throwing caution to the wind, and emphasized that the virus hasn’t gone away or taken a sabbatical.
“The worst mistake we can make is to just throw those face coverings off and disabuse ourselves to this virus,” Newsom said. “It’s still virulent. It’s still deeply, deeply deadly.”