California to lift statewide ban on most activities by next week

Lone runner in the Bay Area. | AP Photo — Lone runner in the Bay Area. | Jeff Chiu/AP Photo

OAKLAND — California is about to take a dramatic step toward reopening a broad range of sectors next week, including gyms, bars and bowling alleys, state public health officials announced Friday.

After remaining more cautious than many states, California health officials issued guidance that suggests how counties could reopen an array of activities starting June 12, including many that are popular in the summer months. That includes day camps without prescribed size limits; swimming pools; campgrounds; vacation rentals; zoos and museums.

The guidance also covers music, film and television industries as well as hotels, tribal casinos and professional sporting events without audiences.

In general, the state urges various social distancing practices and cleaning procedures, with an eye toward reducing situations where people can congregate. Among the activities that remain prohibited are movie theaters, stadiums with fans, convention centers and hotel meeting rooms.

Still, it is the broadest range of sectors the state has authorized in a single day since it started allowing counties to reopen based on reaching metrics in areas such as infection rates and testing capacity. The state has already allowed other industries to move forward, including retail, restaurant dining, child care and offices.

The moves shift a significant amount of authority to counties, who can decide what and when to open venues.

To that point, a number of Bay Area counties, which so far have been among the slowest in the state to reopen, on Friday issued a cascade of modifications that ease up their stay-at-home orders.

Alameda County issued guidance, which goes into effect Monday, that allows for „social bubbles,“ or gatherings of no more than 12 people from different households. Contra Costa County modified its order to allow for outdoor religious gatherings of up to 100 people and the reopening of swimming pools, while Santa Clara County is permitting outdoor dining.

To comply with Alameda County’s “social bubble” restrictions, the gatherings must be held outdoors, and people cannot participate in more than one „social bubble“ with the exception of children in shared custody arrangements.

At the same, the county tightened its facial covering order to require people to wear masks in public whenever they are less than 30 feet from people outside their household, including outdoors while doing in physical activities such as walking, running and biking. San Francisco has a similar facial covering order in place.

Alameda County has become a hot spot for the coronavirus, logging a growing case count of 3,725 and on Friday crossing the grim milestone of 101 deaths. Despite easing some restrictions, Alameda County health officials said they had no plans to submit documentation to the state that could preclude a wider opening.

So far, 51 out of 58 counties have submitted documents to the state to allow them to open up more quickly, with the only exclusions being the six Bay Area counties and Imperial County on the southern end of the state, which is experiencing border-related outbreaks.

“As we move forward in stage 2 of the reopening plan, we increase the level of exposure to infection among Alameda County residents,” said Alameda County Health Officer Erica Pan. “This is still a highly contagious virus and medically fragile residents and our disproportionally impacted communities are still at high risk for this disease.”

The concept of social bubbles is relatively new, though it has been used effectively in New Zealand as well as some other countries. Contra Costa County health officials started on Wednesday to allow “small groups of loved ones” to gather, but did not call them “social bubbles.” State officials pushed back last month when Sacramento County proposed social gatherings of up to 10 people.

When asked if social gathering were allowed, officials from the state Department of Public Health referenced a page from the state’s website that recommends that those who connect with family and friend maintain social distancing practices, including staying six feet apart.

When Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday was asked about reopening nail salons, he said he had been working over the last few weeks with members of the industry and Asian American caucus and expected to issue guidance soon. But nail salons were not included Friday.

Newsom said during Friday’s press briefing, “When we put out guidelines in every sector … we put out a document that is a ‘how’ document but does not prescribe ‘when’ these counties move forward. That will be on the basis of counties making that determination for themselves based upon the unique conditions in their respective communities.”

State Public Health Officer Sonia Angell cautioned residents not to assume the risk that the virus is gone “just because some businesses are opening.”

„As we continue to release guidance on how different sections can reopen with modifications, it is important to remember guidance doesn’t mean ‘go.’ Your local health officer will make the final decision about which sectors will open guided by data specific to your community.” she said in a statement.