SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered a three-week closure of bars and indoor operations of restaurants and certain other businesses in 19 counties, including Sacramento, San Joaquin, and Stanislaus counties as the state deals with increasing cases of COVID-19.
The governor’s order Wednesday also covers indoor operations of movie theaters, wineries, tasting rooms, family entertainment centers, zoos, museums, and cardrooms. The rollback of reopening in the counties is based on local conditions, Newsom said.
The 19 counties include (in alphabetical order): Contra Costa, Fresno, Glenn, Imperial, Kern, Kings, Los Angeles, Merced, Orange, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Joaquin, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Solano, Stanislaus, Tulare, and Ventura counties. Those counties make up more than 70% of California’s population.
The governor also suggested those counties that are a part of these closures to consider canceling Fourth of July fireworks shows. To try and prevent gatherings in Southern California and the Bay Area, parking lots at state beaches in these areas will be closed for the 4th of July weekend.
Businesses in DOCO just started to reopen when the county was cleared to move into stage three and now find themselves altering the way they serve customers once again due to changing public health orders.
“ I certainly don’t think it’s going to help us we do have a patio seating we have been able to extend it as well, we can still accommodate guest but it’s still uncharted territory for us -Nicholas Parker Fizz Bar Waiter said.
The next 21 days will be tough on restaurants, but large patio seating may be a saving grace for those who have the space.
“Our neighbors have limited patio seating and I think the just the overall feeling of people hesitant to go out. Everyone is masked up we doing all the precautions we can to make dining on our patio as safe as possible,” Andrea Lepore Solomon Restaurant Owner said.
Enforcement of the rollback will be handled by multi-agency strike teams, including Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC), California Occupational Safety and Health Administration (CalOSHA), the Department of Business Oversight, the Department of Consumer Affairs, and the California Highway Patrol (CHP).
Newsom said the teams will build partnerships with local health departments and businesses and take an education-first mindset before leveraging their regulatory authority.
Additionally, Newsom reiterated the threat that the state would withhold budget monies, some $2.5 billion, as a penalty to counties that refused to comply with health orders aimed at fighting coronavirus.
California has confirmed close to 223,000 infections, a nearly 50% increase over two weeks ago that has been driven in part by the state's ability to test more people. But more concerning for state officials is the steady growth in coronavirus-related hospitalizations.
A COVID-19 surge has counties rushing to close down bars and beaches ahead of the Fourth of July weekend. Another part of Newsom's "toggling back the dimmer switch" is to close down all parking facilities at state beaches for the holiday weekend. Newsom also said that the state will follow suit and close state beaches in any county that chooses to close local beaches for the holiday.
Other state parks will remain open, with measures in place to reduce visitation and limit overcrowding.
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