Outdoor dining, zoo get OK in Alameda County
State health officials granted Alameda County permission Wednesday to resume outdoor restaurant dining and to open the Oakland Zoo, but the county remained on their list of counties being monitored.
The permission came after Alameda County requested a socalled variance from the state to resume certain activities.
Wednesday marked the county’s third day on the state watch list, which tracks areas with widespread disease in the community or increasing hospitalizations. Counties on the list are subjected to further restrictions. Alameda County was on the list because daily case rates were greater than 100 per 100,000 people, officials said.
County health officials said places of worship could offer outdoor services but were not allowed to hold indoor services. Indoor malls, which were open since the last health order issued June 19, were required to close because the county has been on the state’s list for three days and the state’s Monday order also ordered they be closed, health officials said.
Other indoor retail was not affected, according to officials, who added they planned to pause additional reopenings as case rates and hospitalizations remained high.
While outdoor dining was allowed to resume, health officials reminded people that face coverings are required at all times and can “only be removed during the physical act of eating or drinking” and encouraged the public to practice recommended health guidelines.
“It is critical we all do our part to save lives and slow the spread of COVID19,” county health officials said in a statement. “Residents and those who work in Alameda County can help by staying home as much as possible and especially when you’re sick, wearing a face covering whenever you leave home, maintaining at least 6 feet of distance from anyone outside of your household and washing or sanitizing your hands frequently.”
News of the state approving the variance comes as the county recorded 157 more cases of the coronavirus on Wednesday, according to The Chronicle’s tracking of numbers.