Newsom lays out rules for dining out
Masks, screenings, expanded outdoor seatings — though Bay Area will have to wait
Californians longing to sit and order a meal in their favorite restaurant got a glimmer of hope Tuesday as Gov. Gavin Newsom laid out the steps eateries must take to begin welcoming back dine-in customers — the latest move in his gradual push to reopen the state.
Almost two months after coronavirus lockdowns forced California restaurants to close their dining rooms and limit service to takeout only, Newsom painted a detailed picture of what opening day will look like when those restrictions are lifted. The governor’s new guidelines include customers wearing masks when they aren’t eating, patrons getting screened for COVID-19 symptoms at the door, expanded outdoor seating and customers waiting in their cars for a table.
But it’s not clear when Bay Area restaurantgoers will be able to go back to feasting. As of Tuesday afternoon, only Butte and El Dorado counties had been granted permission to ease up more on their shelter-in-place rules — a strict process that requires counties to prove their COVID-19 cases have flattened and their hospital and testing capacity are on track, among other metrics. No Bay Area county has yet met all the benchmarks.
Newsom also announced strip malls and outlet malls can reopen for curbside pickup throughout most of the state as long as they follow physical distancing and other guidelines. Car washing, pet grooming and landscaping businesses can open their doors too, as can outdoor museums and nonessential offices with employees who cannot telework.
But not in the Bay Area.
County health officials here imposed the nation’s first shelter-in-place orders, which are in effect at least through the end of May. And despite the statewide loosening, Bay Area officials do not plan to ease up, Santa Clara County Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.
“The conditions really haven’t changed in
our county — we don’t suddenly have herd immunity, we don’t have a vaccine. We have exactly the same conditions as we did in March,” Cody said.
Cody’s concerns were echoed Tuesday in a U.S. Senate hearing, where four top federal doctors warned of dire consequences if states move too quickly to reopen for business, one day after President Donald Trump sought to put coronavirus in the rear-view mirror with a declaration that “we have prevailed.”
In the Bay Area, 10,235 people have tested positive for COVID-19, and 370 have died of the virus, according to this news organization’s analysis of data reported by local counties as of Tuesday evening. Statewide, counties had reported 70,946 cases and 2,874 deaths.
If Santa Clara County did loosen the rules now, there would be a swift increase in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths, Cody said.
But several supervisors said pressure is mounting countywide from residents left confused — and increasingly frustrated — by the disparate orders coming from the city, county, state and federal levels.
“The fact that people feel a certain way and act on those feelings … that has consequences that we have to step up to,” Supervisor Joe Simitian said.
“Being right won’t matter if we aren’t persuasive,” he added.
In Los Angeles County, some version of the current stay-at-home orders likely will be in effect for the next three months, Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer told county supervisors Tuesday, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Newsom on Tuesday emphasized that stricter county shelter-in-place rules take precedence over his order.
“The statewide order affords the opportunity for local governments to conform with those guidelines, but one can choose — a region like the Bay Area and its six counties — can choose to be a little bit more prescriptive and restrictive,” he said.
His office has been in touch with 27 counties about rolling back shelter-in-place rules more quickly, Newsom said, and has had “deep” discussions with four.
Counties that meet his guidelines will be allowed to reopen dine-in restaurants but not bars, pubs, breweries or wineries that don’t serve food. Once restaurants reopen, they can serve alcohol only if it’s ordered with a meal.
Restaurants intending to reopen must write a plan to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and train employees in its implementation, follow intensive protocols for cleaning and disinfecting high-traffic areas, and make sure all customers and employees can stay 6 feet away from one another — among other rules.
Clay Walker, president of fast-casual gourmet burger joint Gott’s Roadside, was feeling optimistic after he read the governor’s new guidelines for his industry.
“We are desperately seeking good news,” said Walker, who has seven locations in Walnut Creek, Palo Alto, San Francisco, Napa, Marin and St. Helena — six of which are open for takeout. “This announcement today I think is certainly exciting for restaurants because it’s the beginning of being able to resume what we do for a living.”
But the guidelines also raise new questions. It’s still unclear exactly how the Bay Area counties where Gott’s operates will interpret these rules. Newsom didn’t specify how full a restaurant dining room can be when it reopens, but local counties might. And accommodating the 6-foot rule could be tricky, especially in Gott’s restaurants where the tables are bolted to the floor, Walker said, adding: “We’re essentially looking at a mining expedition.”
Enforcement will be another challenge.
“What I see is operating a little bit like a nightclub,” Walker said, “with a bouncer at the door to help us regulate who is sitting where and how many people are coming and going.”