California has approved San Diego County to move further into stage 2 of the state's reopening plan, allowing for modified in-store retail shopping and in-restaurant dining.
The county sent its plan to the state for approval on Tuesday after it determined it was meeting new state metrics for advancement in Governor Gavin Newsom's plan.
Supervisor Nathan Fletcher tweeted Wednesday night businesses will have to fill out the county's Safe Reopening Plan form and post it publicly. Safe Dining posters will also have to be displayed at restaurants.
Restaurants and businesses still have to comply with face covering and social distancing requirements. More information on reopening plans for both entities can be found here.
Public Health Officer Wilma Wooten noted that if the health care system becomes strained, they could again pull back easing.
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On Monday, Newsom announced California would relax some of its reopening criteria and that 53 of the state’s 58 counties could meet the new guidelines. The updated guidelines included the elimination of requirements such as a county having zero deaths and no more than one case or every 10,000 residents over the span of 14 days.
According to the county, that criteria includes:
- Less than 5% of daily COVID-19 hospitalizations over a 7-day period
or no more than 20 COVID hospitalizations on any single day in the past 14
days; - Fewer than 25 new cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days
or less than 8% testing positive in the past 7 days. - A capacity to be able to test 1.5 per every 1,000 residents and at
least 15 staff per 100,000 county population trained and available for contact tracing, and; - Hospital capacity for a possible surge of 35% of hospitalizations
due to COVID-19 cases in addition to providing usual care for other patients.
The county has also sent Newsom a pilot program plan for Phase 3. If approved, it could allow for the reopening of certain facilities like sports and fitness clubs, salons, and outdoor religious services. Newsom said the state would likely advance into Phase 3 in June.
