As coronavirus cases continue to spike, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has tightened restrictions around the state ahead of the July 4 holiday weekend.
The governor announced Wednesday that indoor businesses including restaurants, wineries and theaters in 19 counties –including two in the Bay Area– must immediately close and cease operations for three weeks.
Citing a 32% spike in COVID-19 hospitalizations over the last seven days, Newsom announced plans to step up enforcement of health rules and use “strike teams” to ensure compliance at workplaces and businesses.
What does this mean for Bay Area counties? We examined their latest public health orders.
Alameda
After initially planning to enter the next phase of reopening on July 1, Alameda County announced plans to temporarily pause its reopening process on June 30, citing spikes of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.
The decision will prevent indoor dining, salons and barbershops and pools from opening, but it allows outdoor dining, religious and cultural ceremonies and summer schools to continue operating. Despite pulling back its plans to move into a phase which included “live sports without fans” to begin operating, Alameda County’s decision will not impact the Oakland A’s, who are reporting to the Coliseum this week for workouts in advance of Major League Baseball’s abbreviated season.
Alameda County has the highest number of coronavirus cases (5,977) of any Bay Area county, but it is not on the state’s watch list for further restrictions because it has met all data indicators including having a test positivity rate under 8% and having an adequate number of ICU beds and ventilators available to residents.
Offices, bars, gyms and personal services such as nail salons and tattoo parlors are among the businesses that remain closed in Alameda County.
Contra Costa
Newsom added Contra Costa County to the state’s watch list after a surge in positive tests and hospitalizations prevented the county from meeting any of the six criteria for safely advancing into the next reopening stage.
Contra Costa County hadn’t opened bars yet, but its addition to the watch list will prevent the county from bars, personal services that don’t include close contact with the face, indoor dining, gyms and fitness centers, limited indoor leisure activities and museums, and hotels for tourism, which were all scheduled to resume operating on July 1.
Businesses permitted to continue operating include outdoor dining, hair salons and barbershops, indoor religious services and outdoor swimming pools.
Guidance released by Newsom Wednesday will prevent indoor dining, bars and other similar businesses from opening within the next three weeks, which will also push back plans to open movie theaters, which were originally expected to open July 15.
Marin
Citing a spike in coronavirus cases, Marin County announced it would pull back on plans to reopen gyms and fitness studios, personal services such as nail salons and tattoo parlors and short-term rentals which were originally scheduled to resume operations on June 29.
A change in plans did not impact indoor dining and hair salons and barbershops, which were allowed to reopen as anticipated on June 29.
Marin County has not yet allowed indoor religious ceremonies, bars and wineries or museums to reopen.
Santa Clara
Like Contra Costa County, Santa Clara County is on the state’s watch list and indoor businesses such as bars and restaurants will not be allowed to open for at least three weeks.
During a press briefing Thursday, county officials announced a new health order that will allow all businesses –except those specifically designated as “high-risk”– to reopen July 13 or when the state gives the thumbs up to a request for a variance to reopen.
The order will permit hair salons, barbershops and gyms to reopen, but high-risk businesses that must remain closed include those that would inherently require removing a face covering such as indoor dining and swimming, smoking lounges, saunas, steam rooms, and heated exercise studios. Nightclubs, indoor bars, sports stadiums and arenas, amusement and theme parks, concert venues and indoor playgrounds must likewise remain closed.
Newsom’s guidance released Wednesday prevents outdoor bars from operating in Santa Clara County.
San Francisco
San Francisco had previously announced plans to reopen hair salons, barbershops, nail salons and tattoo studios on June 29, but chose to put those plans on pause last week.
Restaurants have been open for outdoor dining since June 12 while small outdoor gatherings, outdoor exercise and non-emergency medical appointments have been permitted since June 15.
San Francisco has plans to reopen indoor dining on July 13 and has published details on the possibility of indoor swimming pools, gyms and playgrounds to reopen at some point in August.
San Mateo
Of the five counties listed, San Mateo County is the least restrictive as it has pushed forward with plans to reopen most sectors of its economy.
San Mateo County allows bars, indoor and outdoor dining, personal services such as nail salons and tattoo parlors, hair salons and barbershops and day camps to operate. In its most recent health order, the county also announced gatherings under 50 people are permitted.
Businesses that are not operating in San Mateo County include live theaters, nightclubs, concert venues, theme parks and higher education campuses.
