Coronavirus updates: 17 California counties may now open restaurants and more
It’s happening, in some places.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office over the course of Tuesday announced the approval of regional reopening plans by seven Northern California counties — Butte, El Dorado, Shasta, Lassen, Amador, Nevada and Placer — where a number of businesses including in-restaurant dining and in-store retail sales can resume operations, but with a number of modifications.
Ten more counties joined the list Wednesday, according to the state’s COVID-19 webpage: Plumas, Sierra, Tulomne, Yuba and Sutter (the two counties share a public health office), Calaveras, Colusa, Glenn, San Benito and Tehama counties.
Businesses in those counties, like all considered nonessential statewide, had been shuttered since Newsom’s March 19 stay-at-home order, issued to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. At least 2,934 Californians have died and more than 71,000 have been infected with COVID-19, the disease caused by the highly contagious virus, according to a Bee survey of counties’ health departments.
Days after their governments and health offices filed what Newsom called “attestation” documents, effectively showing that COVID-19 activity was sufficiently low in their jurisdictions and that they have the resources in place to handle a moderate spike, the seven counties were cleared to accelerate further within Phase 2 than the rest of the state.
Phase 2 of what Newsom has described as a four-phase “roadmap” to reopen California’s economy includes businesses considered lower risk for virus transmission, such as restaurants, shopping malls and offices that cannot transition to telework. As of last Friday, retailers were allowed to do business in all of California’s 58 counties, but on a curbside pickup-only basis. Newsom on Tuesday expanded pickup-only businesses to include indoor and outdoor shopping malls.
Higher-risk Phase 3 businesses, which include personal service businesses like gyms, barbershops and nail salons, will have to wait in those counties and the rest of the state. Phase 4 would be the full lifting of Newsom’s stay-at-home order, which the governor said should not be anticipated until there is a treatment for COVID-19 available.
The 17 approved counties combined are home to roughly 1.67 million of California’s 40 million residents.
The public health director of Los Angeles County, which makes up a quarter of California’s population but has accounted for more than half the state’s COVID-19 fatalities at over 1,600, said stay-at-home restrictions will “with all certainty” remain in place through July.
Three Bay Area counties plan for partial reopening
Bay Area counties San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin plan to lift some of the restrictions to slow the coronavirus spread and partially reopen by next week, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.
San Mateo County health officer Dr. Scott Morrow said he intends to issue a new shelter-in-place order that will go into effect Monday and bring the county in line with the state’s early Phase 2 reopening guidelines. The new health order will allow retail sales curbside and delivery, and allow some other businesses to reopen with modifications, according to a news release.
As of Tuesday, San Mateo County had 1,515 COVID-19 cases and 65 deaths due to complications from the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus, according to county data. The county had seven new COVID-19 cases reported Tuesday, 21 new cases on Monday, and 15 new cases on Sunday.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed said all retail businesses in the city with direct entrances to streets would be allowed to reopen Monday for curbside service, the Los Angeles Times reported. Breed told reporters at a Wednesday news conference that COVID-19 numbers were flattening but had not declined, while hospitalizations remained flat with a stable capacity.
The San Francisco Department of Public Health on Tuesday reported a total of 1,994 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 35 deaths. Marin County on Tuesday reported a total of 271 COVID-19 cases and 14 deaths, according to county data.
First infant to contract virus in Merced County
Public health officials on Wednesday confirmed that a 5-month-old child is now the first infant in Merced County to contract coronavirus, which causes the infectious respiratory disease COVID-19, the Merced Sun-Star reported.
Officials said in a news release that the infant was doing well and recovering at home. No further information about the child was released.
The number of young people and children in Merced County infected with COVID-19 has increased recently, according to the news release. In the past two weeks, nine confirmed cases of patients younger than 18 years old have been reported, which has now reached a total of 12 children infected with COVID-19.
County officials said pediatric cases have increased from 3 to 7 percent of the total COVID-19 caseload.
The county’s chief health officer warned that transmission levels will continue to rise, and it’s not the time for residents to become complacent about the health guidelines to slow the coronavirus spread and protect those vulnerable to the disease, which include children.
As of Wednesday, there were three more COVID-19 confirmed cases reported in Merced County, which reached a total of 180 cases, the Sun-Star reported. Four people in the county have died due to complications from COVID-19.
What rules do reopening restaurants need to follow?
The Newsom administration on Tuesday posted a set of rules, requirements and guidelines for restaurants to follow as they reopen their dining rooms to customers.
It’s not brief. The 12-page document includes a bulleted list of 99 criteria.
Some requirements are simple tasks already being done, such as disinfecting surfaces. Others are more involved, such as providing disposable menus, installing high-efficiency air filters and seating all parties 6 feet apart. A few items are phrased as strong recommendations, but many are considered mandates.
Restaurants must clearly display a set of rules for customers and staff upon entry, such as instructing them to use hand sanitizer and not unnecessarily touch surfaces. Customers will have to wear masks when not eating or drinking and be screened for COVID-19 symptoms at the door.
All servers, bussers, managers and other employees who will come within 6 feet of customers must wear masks, which are “strongly encouraged” for all other employees as well.
The plan doesn’t include an occupancy cap, as many had expected it would. Newsom acknowledged at a news conference Tuesday that limiting restaurants to half their normal seating wasn’t necessary in all cases.
“We aren’t being prescriptive with how many seats restaurants can have. We’re concerned primarily with physical distancing capacity,” Newsom said. “But we also wanted to provide flexibility. I’m not naive. None of this means anything if customers don’t feel safe.”
The guidelines also state that restaurants may expand their outdoor seating areas to maximize capacity within the social distancing requirements, so long as restaurants that do so continue to abide by all applicable laws and ordinances.
California Restaurant Association president and CEO Jot Condie in a statement Tuesday applauded Newsom for opting against a 50 percent occupancy limit, which has been implemented in states including Tennessee, South Carolina and Texas.
“While the restaurant experience may look different with physical distancing in place, here is what is unchanged: hospitality,” Condie said. “Restaurants are getting ready to open their doors and enthusiastically welcome their guests.”
Dentists may reopen offices. How will visits change?
Dental practices across California and in Sacramento are reopening this week to more patients, after being limited to emergency care only for several weeks.
The state Department of Public Health and the California Dental Association last week informed dentists they can begin expanding to nonemergency services as well, if they follow coronavirus safety guidelines.
Sacramento County’s health chief has given local dentists the go-ahead to do “preventive” dental work, not just just emergency work. Dr. Peter Beilenson told The Bee that he is OK with dentists performing routine teeth cleaning if the dental office is adhering to all state safety steps.
The guidelines include things like employees wearing more protective gear, like facial masks, as well visor or protective screens covering their entire face. Dentists are also now required to screen patients for COVID-19 symptoms.
In some offices, patients will be asked to wait in their car or elsewhere outside the office for a text telling them their room is ready. Similar guidance is found in the state’s rules for reopening restaurants: no more buzzers, if possible.
Sacramento State, other CSUs brace for another virtual semester
California State University, Sacramento, will for the most part not be holding in-person classes for the fall semester, as CSU Chancellor Timothy White during Tuesday’s Board of Trustees meeting told the system’s 23 campuses to prepare for a slate of mostly online classes.
White said these plans are necessary for the 2020-2021 academic year as “evolving data” surrounding the spread of COVID-19 emerge.
“Virtual planning is necessary because it might not be possible for some students, faculty and staff to safely travel to campus,” White said in a written statement. “Said another way, this virtual planning approach preserves as many options for as many students as possible.”
Sacramento State University President Robert S. Nelsen said Tuesday’s announcement from the CSU chancellor “clearly means that most of us will not be back on campus this fall.”
“Sacramento State is, accordingly, developing a plan for the vast, vast majority of classes to be virtual for Fall 2020,” Nelsen said in a written statement. “We also are developing a plan for vetting exceptions.”
Nelsen said that the campus president, the CSU chancellor and the local county health department must approve each and every exception, which must demonstrate a compelling educational need.
“No faculty member or staff member will be asked to teach or staff any class that receives an exception without their explicit permission, all such in-person work must be the choice of the individual,” Nelsen said. “Likewise, no student will be required to take an in-person class as part of their progress to their degree.”
Sacramento-area death toll rises to 81, nearly 1,600 infected
At least 81 people have died from COVID-19 the four-county Sacramento region among 1,592 confirmed cases, according to the counties’ public health departments. Another 58 infections and three deaths have come in nearby Yuba and Sutter counties.
Sacramento County public health officials have recorded 1,183 cases of the coronavirus and 51 deaths, last updated Wednesday morning. The infection total grew by just two cases from the previous day’s update. One new fatality was reported, in the city of Sacramento.
Yolo County reported two new confirmed cases and zero deaths Wednesday, bringing totals to 179 and 22, respectively. Fifteen of those deaths — including at least one staff member — have come at Stollwood Convalescent Hospital, located within the St. John’s Retirement Village campus in Woodland, according to the county website. The two most recent deaths did not come at Stollwood.
Placer County has reported 170 lab-confirmed cases and eight fatalities from the coronavirus, last updated 8 a.m. Wednesday. In South Placer, 138 cases have been reported, which includes Rocklin, Roseville and Lincoln. Placer County last reported a coronavirus death on April 15.
El Dorado County reported four more cases Wednesday afternoon, bringing the total number of people infected there to 60. No deaths from the virus have been reported in the county. Most of the infections are in the Lake Tahoe and El Dorado Hills areas, at about 20 apiece.
Sutter County has confirmed 35 COVID-19 cases, including one Tuesday, and two related fatalities. The most recent death in Sutter came April 4.
Yuba County reports one death among 23 total cases, including two new ones as of Tuesday. The death was reported April 9.
World numbers: Global death toll approaching 300,000
The global infection total for COVID-19 surpassed 4.3 million Wednesday morning, with about 296,000 deaths reported by the afternoon, according to data maintained by Johns Hopkins University.
Nearly 84,000 people have died of the virus in the United States. Of those, 27,000 have come in New York state and another 9,700 in New Jersey. Connecticut, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Massachusetts have each confirmed between roughly 3,000 and 5,000 deaths.
Colorado, Texas, Ohio Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Florida, Louisiana and California have each recorded between 1,000 and 3,000 fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins.
After the U.S., death tolls are about 33,300 in the United Kingdom, 31,100 in Italy, 27,000 in each of Spain and France, 13,000 in Brazil, 8,800 in Belgium and just under 8,000 in Germany. Another 6,800 have died in Iran, followed by the Netherlands at 5,500 fatalities and Canada at 5,400. China, the original epicenter for the novel coronavirus, has reported about 4,600 deaths.
What is COVID-19? How is the coronavirus spread?
Coronavirus is spread through contact between people within 6 feet of each other, especially through coughing and sneezing that expels respiratory droplets that land in the mouths or noses of people nearby. The CDC says it’s possible to catch the disease COVID-19 by touching something that has the virus on it, and then touching your own face, “but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.”
Symptoms of the virus that causes COVID-19 include fever, cough and shortness of breath, which may occur two days to two weeks after exposure. Most develop only mild symptoms, but some people develop more severe symptoms, including pneumonia, which can be fatal. The disease is especially dangerous to the elderly and others with weaker immune systems.
This story was originally published May 13, 2020 at 7:35 AM.
