Sacramento Zoo to reopen this week as region exits tight COVID stay-at-home order
The Sacramento Zoo will reopen this Friday after more than a month of closure, getting the OK with this week’s lifting of the regional stay-at-home order due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“We look forward to reopening the zoo with beautiful weather this weekend,” Sacramento Zoo Director Jason Jacobs said in an emailed news release Wednesday. “We were closed for the busy spring months and the winter break and are ready to welcome our community back to the zoo.”
The zoo had been ordered closed since Dec. 10, when California health officials’ regional stay-at-home order took effect in the Greater Sacramento region due to high community COVID-19 rates and hospitals’ intensive care unit availability dropping below 15% in the 13-county area.
Along with things like outdoor restaurant dining and personal care service businesses, outdoor museums and zoos had been on the relatively short list of establishments barred in the stay-at-home order but permitted in California’s “purple” reopening tier, to which the vast majority of Greater Sacramento has now returned.
The zoo will operate with modifications, as it did from June through the early December closure. Additionally, some attractions such as the indoor reptile house won’t be available due to COVID-19 protocols.
Zoo tickets must be bought in advance online, and sales will resume at 9 a.m. Thursday, according to the announcement. The zoo will be open to the general public during its regular hours.
The zoo broke the news on social media in a Facebook post, including a photo of Gizmo the red panda showing off a wide smile.
