Sonoma County Amends Shelter-In-Place Order, Allows Additional Business Reopenings
SANTA ROSA (CBS SF) -- Sonoma County will allow additional businesses to reopen with new changes to the county's shelter-in-place order, beginning on Friday.
On Thursday, county Health Officer Dr. Sundari Mase amended the shelter order to become effective at 12:01 a.m. on Friday. Under the amended order, the following businesses are allowed to operate and people permitted to leave home and travel to work in or patronize:
- car washes
- pet groomers
- dog walking services
- residential and janitorial cleaning services
- outdoor museums
- open-air galleries
- botanical gardens
- other outdoor exhibition spaces
Retail sales by curbside pickup, delivery, or shipping are allowed from shopping malls, strip malls, and outlets. All storefront and indoor mall access would remain closed to the public.
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The amended order also work in offices where teleworking is not possible, although office workspaces would still not be open to the public.
The amendment also allows childcare facilities to open for people who are outside the essential workforce. The facilities must follow the strict protocols from the previous health order of May 1st.
On May 12, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the Phase 2 shelter-in-place guidelines where businesses statewide could operate with modifications. The amendment to the Sonoma County Health Order implements the reopenings locally.
COMPLETE COVERAGE: CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
Other businesses that specifically must remain closed according to the the order include outdoor restaurants, cafes, or bars, zoos, amusement parks, indoor gallery and museum spaces. The order also does not include personal care and close contact businesses such as hair salons, barbershops, nail salons, massage parlors, aestheticians and cosmetology, ear-piercing salons, and tattoo parlors.
In Marin County, Health Officer Dr. Matt Wills said he would issue on Friday a new shelter-in-place order allowing curbside retail and manufacturing to open on May 18 in Marin cities, towns, and unincorporated areas. The amended order would build on the May 4 order that reopened outdoor businesses and construction.
"The most important thing that we recognize is that reopening does not mean the virus is gone," said Willis in a recent video message. "It means we believe we are prepared to take the next step, knowing that the virus is here and that we remain at risk. We have no zero-risk options."
In San Mateo County, Health Officer Dr. Scott Morrow said he also intended to issue a new shelter in place order to be effective on May 18, bringing the county in line with the early Phase 2 guidelines of the governor's Resilience Roadmap.
"I want to remind everyone these modifications are not being made because it is safe to be out and about," said Morrow in a prepared statement. "The virus continues to circulate in our community, and this increase in interactions among people is likely to spread the virus at a higher rate. Whether these modifications allow the virus to spread out of control, as we saw in February and March and resulted in the first shelter in place order, is yet to be seen. The social distancing and face-covering directives, along with the prohibition on gathering, will remain in place since the risk of exposure to COVID-19 looms large for all of us. The public and open businesses need to fully do their part to minimize transmission of the virus.'
More information on the governor's industry-specific guidance for reopening can be found here: https://covid19.ca.gov/roadmap/.
