What Is and What Isn’t Allowed to Open in CA
In Napa County, customers can swing past a bookstore for a curbside purchase. A few dozen miles south in San Francisco, such activities are forbidden. In Amador County, restaurants are opening for in-dining service, but they’re only open for takeout in Sonoma County.
The state of affairs in California is difficult to parse.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is reopening the state’s economy on a four-stage plan that’s based on science and data and promotes social distancing. The state is currently moving from stage one, with all residents except essential workers staying at home, into stage two, when businesses with a lower risk of spreading COVID-19 will reopen.
Newsom has given several sectors statewide permission to open, including retail and office space where teleworking isn’t possible. Some counties – including Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Mateo, San Francisco and Santa Clara-are moving on slower timelines and maintaining their stricter shelter-in-place orders. The Newsom administration isn’t requiring counties to comply with the state order if they have more stringent guidelines in place.
Making the situation even more difficult to follow, the state is allowing some counties that meet certain COVID-19 benchmarks to move more quickly into stage two and open additional sectors such as restaurants for dining-in service and shopping malls for curbside pickup.
Moves into stage three that include the reopening of gyms and hair salons is prohibited. Stage four, with the return of large gatherings at concert venues and convention centers, is months away, Newsom said.
With new information coming out every day, many California residents (especially Bay Area ones dealing with stricter guidelines than the state) have questions about what’s open and when will other business sectors and places be opening. Below is everything we know so far.
Bars
Status: not permitted to operate in the State of California with opening date unknown
Currently, bars can only sell sealed bottles of alcohol, such as growlers of beer or closed wine, for takeout, but not mixed drinks. Although Alcoholic Beverage Control recently relaxed its rules to allow for cocktails to-go, the caveat has been that mixed alcoholic beverages can only be sold in tandem with food (beer and wine in manufacturer-sealed containers can be sold without food, however, ABC clarified).
Newsom hasn’t addressed when bars can invite customers to step inside or which stage they fall under. When bars do open, they will most likely be required to follow certain social-distancing requirements.
Construction
Status: permitted to operate statewide per county health rules
Construction across the state is mostly open and the Bay Area recently gave the green light for projects to resume on May 4 if certain physical distancing measures are in place. In this photo, a construction worker works on a street project in San Francisco on May 4, 2020.
The state released guidance for the construction industry to create a safe environment for workers.
Status: not permitted to operate in the State of California with opening date unknown
Churches can open and in-person religious services can resume under social-distancing guidelines in Stage 3. A timeline hasn’t been provided for this phase in the reopening of the economy that Newsom has said will be gradual.
Concert venues
Status: not permitted to operate in the State of California with opening date months away
Convention centers
Status: not permitted to operate in the State of California with opening date months away
Newsom has said these will open in Stage 4, which marks the end of the stay-at-home order. This stage is months away, he said.
Festivals
Status: not permitted to operate in the State of California with opening date months away
Golf courses
Status: permitted to operate statewide per county health rules
Under the current California order, golf with only one person in the cart is allowed. Golf courses across the state and in the Bay Area (such as the Presidio Golf Course in San Francisco pictured) began reopening in May.
Gyms
Status: not permitted to operate in the State of California with opening date unknown
Gyms are among a group of businesses considered by the state as high-risk for spreading the virus, and will be allowed to reopen in Stage 3. A timeline hasn’t been provided for this phase.
Hair and nail salons
Status: not permitted to operate in the State of California with opening date months away
Salons are also considered a high-risk environment and will be allowed to reopen in Stage 3. Newsom hasn’t given any indication for when Stage 3 may begin.
“The third phase is personal care,” Newsom said in a Tuesday press conferences. “It’s the areas around — well, (there’s) a lot of discussion around gyms and spas, and nail salons, and people wanting to get haircuts.”
Hospitality services such as wineries and tasting rooms
Status: not permitted to operate in the State of California with opening day unknown
Though you can do a virtual tasting with some wineries.
Hotels
Status: permitted to operate for essential workers and other specific purposes; it’s unknown when hotels can reopen for leisure and tourism
Under the current statewide stay-at-home order, hotels are only permitted to be “open for COVID-19 mitigation and containment measures, treatment measures, providing accommodation for essential workers, or providing housing solutions, including measures to protect homeless populations.”
The state has released specific guidelines for hotel operations to support physical distancing.
Some hotels have closed due to lack of demand. It’s unknown when the state will allow non-essential travel, providing the opportunity for residents to visit other parts of the state and stay in hotels.
Manufacturing
Status: open in California, but not in all Bay Area counties
The Newsom administration allowed manufacturing to reopen under certain guidelines on May 8. It remains closed in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Mateo, San Francisco and Santa Clara.
Movie theaters
Status: not permitted to operate in the State of California with opening date unknown
Across the state, theaters, such as the Roxie in San Francisco (pictured), are shuttered. Newsom said these can open under social-distancing guidelines in Stage 3. It has been suggested that theaters may only sell select seats to promote social distancing.
Office spaces
Status: permitted to operate statewide per county health rules, not open in several Bay Area countie
The Newsom Administration has given offices where teleworking isn’t possible approval to open statewide if physical-distancing measures are in place. Consulting and public-relations firms have been used as examples of offices allowed to open. The state has released guidance to promote social distancing in the work environment.
In some counties where infections rates are low, offices are already beginning to reopen, while some companies such as Facebook with its headquarters in the Bay Area have said workers don’t need to return to the office until next year.
Open spaces
Status: Some are open, with more opening in May–June
State Parks, campgrounds, museums, and visitor centers are mostly closed. A list of all closures can be found at www.parks.ca.gov/flattenthecurve and a list of outdoor spaces that are open is here.
The Newsom administration has said more open spaces, outdoor areas, parks and trails will reopen in Stage 2.