New rules will allow churches to reopen

County health approval required; Bay Area officials not following revised state guidelines yet

Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled a slew of modifications to the statewide stay-at-home order on Monday, granting Californians a wide range of new freedoms just as the Memorial Day weekend was winding down — from reopening churches to permitting political protests to allowing inperson shopping. But the loosening of restrictions won’t apply in the Bay Area just yet.

Under the governor’s new guidelines, places of worship can reopen and political protests can be held, pending approval from their county public health officials, on the condition that they limit attendance to 25% of the building or area’s capacity or a maximum of 100 attendees, whichever is lower.

In-store retail shopping can also open statewide, as long as stores abide by certain protocols. Those protocols require businesses to create a COVID-19 prevention plan, conduct health screenings on their employees and ensure that customers and employees remain 6 feet apart. Places of worship will have to abide by the same precautions.

Even as the governor granted some leeway, Bay Area officials — who were the first in the nation to issue shelter-in-place orders — say they don’t have plans to follow the new state guidance right away.

Under the region’s current order, in-store retail and public and private gatherings of any number of people outside a single household, including for worship services, are prohibited. A spokesperson for the Contra Costa County Public Health Department said in an email Monday that the county will “continue to abide by the terms of its own shelter-in-place order, currently set to expire June 1.”

And a spokesperson for the Santa Clara County Public Health Department said that the county will monitor health data before deciding whether to change the county’s restrictions.

Hundreds of residents spent time this holiday weekend protesting restrictive public health orders across the state — from the steps of Los Angeles City Hall to the lawn in front of the state Capitol in Sacramento. The new state guidelines follow a declaration made by President Donald Trump on Friday that he was designating places of worship as “essential” businesses, and that he would “override the governors” across the country who resist reopening religious institutions. “America, we need more prayer, not less,” Trump said.

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Newsom said Friday that he had been talking with faith leaders statewide over the previous week to find the best approach to resuming religious services as quickly as possible, while still protecting the public health.

“It’s so important that folks understand we deeply understand, admire, the faith devotion,” Newsom said, adding later, “We look forward to churches reopening in a safe and responsible manner.”

As of Monday, the number of people infected with COVID-19 continued to climb statewide to more than 94,000 cases reported effective Sunday, and the state’s death toll from the virus passed 3,750. Alameda County reported 2,874 cases of COVID-19 as of Monday, the highest in the Bay Area. Santa Clara County had 2,652 cases, San Francisco had 2,367, San Mateo had 1,833 and Contra Costa had 1,336.

Religious services and gatherings have been the source of many major outbreaks across the country, including a church service in rural Arkansas where more than a third of the attendees came down with COVID-19, and a Russian language church near Sacramento where at least 70 congregants tested positive for the virus.

Churches and places of worship across California have been prohibited from holding in-person services since the governor issued a statewide shelter-inplace order more than two months ago. But in recent weeks some religious leaders have started to push back.

Pastor Mike McClure of San Jose’s Calvary Chapel and Bishop Bob Jackson of Oakland’s Acts Full Gospel Church have already vowed to reopen their churches — with or without approval from the state or local public health officials.

Robert Tyler, an attorney representing a Lodi church that challenged the governor’s order in court, said the new guidance addressed most of his concerns, but he still took issue with the cap of 100 people. Restaurants, he noted, will be allowed to operate with up to 50% capacity when they reopen for sit-in dining, according to Newsom’s guidelines.

“There are churches out there that seat 1,000 people, so the limitation to 100 is a bit unnecessary, especially when you consider that you have so many grocery stores and home improvement stores where you go in and there are hundreds of people in there,” he said.

Tyler will be watching to see what modifications Bay Area health officials make to their orders in the coming days. “If their guidelines are more restrictive than the state, then we will likely pursue litigation again those counties,” he said.

Despite the changes, the new guidelines still “strongly recommend” that places of worship continue to offer remote services and other related activities for those who are vulnerable to COVID-19.

And some are planning to do just that for the foreseeable future, saying the potential of exposing their congregants to COVID-19 is too costly of a toll.

Amos Brown, the pastor at the Third Baptist Church in San Francisco and president of the city’s NAACP branch, said he will not be rushing back into a church anytime soon.

“The African American clergy have consistently been independent, critical thinkers and they’re not about to be called out in the political ploy where certain forces — mainly the rightwing evangelicals — are pimping the piety of people,” Amos said. “Putting people into life-threatening situations is not the way of Jesus.”

Places of worship are encouraged to modify certain practices that could increase the spread of COVID-19, such as hand-holding, singing, group recitation and using common supplies, such as cups or books. They are also being asked to consider holding services outside whenever possible, shortening services to limit the length of time congregants spend at facilities and closing places of worship for visitation outside of scheduled services.

Participants in public protests must maintain at least 6 feet from any uniformed peace officers and other public safety personnel, and follow all other requirements and directives imposed by local health officers and law enforcement.