Governor Gavin Newsom | Credit: Courtesy

Offices that cannot telework, outdoor museums, and personal services like car and dog washing and landscaping are now able to open in California — as long as site-specific precautions are taken to prevent any transmission of the coronavirus.

The new part of Governor Newsom’s Phase 2 reopening plan was issued on Tuesday, along with the statement that Butte and El Dorado counties were given the green light to reopen restaurants for in-house dining and shopping malls, again with precautions such as physical distance, face coverings, frequent sanitizing, and employee training.


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“We know that one size doesn’t fit all,” the governor said. “We recognize that certain parts of our state have been hit harder while other regions have felt less impact from COVID-19. We will continue our active engagement with counties to begin easing the Stay-at-Home order only when the science, data and public health tell us it’s safe to do so.”

In addition to those two counties, Lassen, Nevada, Placer, and Shasta counties also attested they had met the single case per 10,000 residents threshold in the prior 14 days, and the requirement that no COVID-related deaths occurred in the prior two weeks. As well, personal protective equipment was supplied and available for all critical workers, as were disinfection supplies, testing and contact tracing capacity, hospital beds should a surge of cases develop, housing for homeless individuals, and care plans for vulnerable populations.

Notable by its absence from the variance list was Modoc County, which was the first to throw off the restrictions without California’s consent. It has no cases or deaths from COVID.


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