Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that some retail stores across the state can reopen with modifications as early as Friday amid growing pressure to ease the stay-at-home order that has cratered the California economy.
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that some retail stores across the state can reopen with modifications as early as Friday amid growing pressure to ease the stay-at-home order that has cratered the California economy.
“We are entering into the next phase this week,” Newsom said at his Monday news conference. “This is a very positive sign and it’s happened only for one reason: The data says it can happen.”
Under the new guidelines, the governor said bookstores, music stores, toy stores, florists, sporting goods retailers and others can reopen for pickup as early as Friday. He said more detailed guidelines on the businesses that can reopen would be released later this week.
The governor’s plan also expands decision-making at the local level, allowing some communities to move further ahead into the second phase of the order and open more businesses at their own pace instead of adhering to a uniform policy across the state. But if counties want to do more, they must first meet certain requirements for hospitals beds, testing kits and the ability to track infected individuals and trace their contacts, Newsom said.
Calls for Newsom to lift the restrictions grew in recent days with large protests at the state Capitol and in Orange County as a handful of small rural counties moved to open their communities in defiance of the governor.
