What’s reopening, what can resume
In late April, six Bay Area counties and the city of Berkeley announced that residents would be required to shelter in place through at least May 31 to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.
New public health orders — covering Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, Santa Clara, San Francisco and Marin counties and Berkeley — largely resemble earlier mandates, requiring some 7 million residents to leave their homes only for the most essential errands and to keep at least 6 feet away from anyone they don’t live with.
But the new orders, which take effect May 4, did lift restrictions on some outdoor recreation and business activities considered low-risk because they generally provide ample space for social distancing and involve “brief and infrequent interactions between people,” health officials said.
Here’s a quick look at what’s changing with these new orders. Q: What will open when the updated shelter-in-place orders go into effect May 4?
A: All construction will be allowed to resume, as will some businesses where most activity takes place outdoors. Restrictions on some recreation facilities will also be lifted. Q: What businesses will be allowed to reopen?
A: In addition to construction work, businesses that can conduct operations outdoors — like plant nurseries, car washes or flea markets — can reopen. They must conduct all business and transactions involving members of the public outdoors, however, according to the health order.
Essential businesses, like health care facilities, banks and grocery stores, will be allowed to remain open. Restaurants can continue providing delivery or take-out orders, but outdoor seating will remain off-limits.
Real estate activity will be allowed to resume, too, but with some restrictions. Appointments for real estate viewings are supposed to be done virtually. But barring that, appointments can be scheduled with no more than two visitors at a time who reside in the same household and the person showing the unit. In-person visits are not allowed when an occupant is still present in the residence, however.
As they were under the previous order, farming, livestock and fishing businesses can stay open. Veterinary services, pet food stores, gas stations, auto repair shops, bike repair and supply shops, hardware and other home-supply stores and home repair services, banks and laundry and dry cleaning services can remain open. So can stores that sell groceries and other nongrocery products and products necessary to maintain the safety and sanitation of homes. Coin laundries are open. Cannabis dispensaries are open.
Businesses that provide food, shelter and social services to the economically disadvantaged will be kept open, as will residential facilities and shelters for seniors, adults and children.
Media outlets such as newspapers, radio and television stations can keep working.
Electricians, plumbers, exterminators and sanitation workers can continue working. Arborists, landscapers, gardeners and similar service professionals can work only to maintain habitability, sanitation and safety, not cosmetic work.
Funeral home providers, mortuaries, cemeteries and crematoriums can stay open.
Airports, taxis, rental car companies, ride-hailing services remain open, but residents can only use them for essential travel.
Businesses that supply other essential businesses with the support or supplies necessary to operate can stay open, but cannot use this category to sell goods to the general public.
Businesses that help workers find jobs at essential businesses can stay open.
Businesses that remain open are required to post guidelines visible to the public and employees on keeping people 6 feet apart, including while standing in line outside, and cleaning practices. There are no specific limitations on the number of people allowed inside, but people must stay 6 feet apart. Q: What kinds of recreation activities can resume?
A: Restrictions will be lifted on most activities that easily lend themselves to social distancing requirements, and don’t involve sharing equipment with people outside your household. So, golf courses and skate parks will be allowed to reopen, but pickup basketball games at the park are still prohibited. San Francisco Deputy Health Officer Dr. Susan Philip said tennis was also prohibited in San Francisco, but Contra Costa County’s health order expressly allows for tennis and pickle ball to resume.
Any public recreation spaces with shared equipment — including playgrounds, outdoor gyms, climbing walls, picnic areas, dog parks, pools, spas and barbecue areas — will remain closed. Q: What about parks, beaches and other outdoor facilities?
A: Counties are handling the reopening of these public spaces a bit differently, so that will depend in part on where you live.
Sonoma County officials, for example, lifted prohibitions on lower-risk outdoor recreational activity, including walking, jogging, hiking and cycling, in parks across the county, except for those along the coasts. The county’s parks remain accessible only to those who can walk or bike to them, however — parking lots are still closed.
San Francisco’s Recreation and Parks Department closed down major thoroughfares in Golden Gate Park and McLaren Park to car traffic in an effort to give people more room to get fresh air, while adhering to social distancing rules.
The San Mateo County Parks Department announced plans on April 28 to reopen trails in 13 of its 23 parks beginning May 4, though visitors will have to keep at least 6 feet apart from others and hike, single file, on narrow trails.