Sacramento County’s restaurants can reopen with seated dining for Memorial Day weekend, the county’s health director announced Tuesday.
The county is ready to loosen more of its coronavirus-related restrictions, including those on dine-in services, shopping inside stores and small, socially-distanced gatherings, per a recent vote from the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors. On Tuesday, the board approved the county’s documents attesting that it’s met state benchmarks for reducing its number of new Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations, as well as its ability to test and trace for new cases.
The county’s latest health order is expected to come out Thursday. Sacramento County has already submitted its attestation documents to state public health officials, Beilenson said. He said he expects the document will be certified by Wednesday at the latest.
“If we can get open on Thursday I’m busting out our karaoke and beer specials!!!”
Christina Ratcliffe, Owner of Papa’s Pizzaria
Under the order, restaurants will be allowed to reopen for seated dining, with modifications. Last week the state debuted a 12-page set of guidelines, which lists changes that include dispersed seating, disposable menus and face coverings for staff to prevent transmission of the coronavirus.
Retailers and micro-enterprises will be allowed to open as well, with frequent sanitation and their own industry-specific guidelines.
All businesses that reopen are urged to limit the number of staff and patrons in the building at any time, and limit contact as much as possible by staffing appointments and offering pickup.
“Ideally, less than 10 people in a small store or office,” the county’s reopening plan states.
Family and social gatherings — like weddings, funerals and pool parties — can be held outdoors with 10 or fewer people, as long as participants are physically distanced and don’t share equipment, under the new order.
The order also removes travel restrictions, which previously instructed people to only travel for essential activities like exercise, grocery shopping and health care.
The full list of businesses and activities included in the latest phase of reopening includes:
- Plumbers, electricians and landscapers, with social distancing and personal protective equipment
- Child care and day care
- Businesses that support essential businesses by appointment only
- Outdoor gyms and recreation
State guidelines for how each industry can reopen are available here.
“We’re opening in a judicious manner. We’re opening up at least some social settings … We’re trying to do it carefully so we don’t have a new explosion of the virus.”
Dr. Peter Beilenson, Sacramento County health director
