Reopening California: Is the Bay Area ready for Phase 2? Here's what every single county says

ByLiz Kreutz KGO logo

Friday, May 8, 2020

Is the Bay Area ready for Phase 2? Here's what every single county says

Despite some excitement that California will begin entering into "phase two" of reopening later this week, it's become clearer that the Bay Area, for the most part, will not be.

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Despite some excitement that California will begin entering into "Phase 2" of reopening later this week, it's become clearer that the Bay Area, for the most part, will not be.

ABC7 News reached out to the nine counties in the Bay Area to find out if they plan to enter into "Phase 2" on Friday, as the state order will allow. Only Napa, Solano, Sonoma counties said they plan to do so.

Here's what every county has said about moving into phase two this week.

San Francisco County

Start "Phase 2" on Friday? No.

San Francisco officials said they are pushing back Phase 2 re-openings back until May 18.

San Mateo County

Start "Phase 2" on Friday? No.

In a statement, San Mateo County Health Officer Dr. Scott Morrow told ABC7 News:

"In San Mateo County and, more broadly, the Bay Area we plan to stick to tracking progress on our five key indicators to determine when we're ready to move on to the next stage of relaxing our current shelter-in-place restrictions, which were previously proposed to be in place through the end of May. The governor made it clear that local jurisdictions can retain more health protective policies based on local conditions."

Santa Clara County

Start "Phase 2" on Friday? No.

"The county is reviewing what the governor has said and once changes are made to the state order, the county will comment as appropriate," a spokesperson said.

Alameda County

Start "Phase 2" on Friday? No.

Neetu Balram, a spokesperson for the county, told ABC7 News in an email that mid-May would likely be the earliest the county enters "Phase 2."

"Ongoing favorable results will be the deciding factors to further relaxation, and we are cautiously optimistic that we're making progress toward safely opening up to the State's allowed activities in mid-May," Balram said.

Contra Costa County

Start Phase 2 on Friday? No.

"It's too soon to tell," a county official told ABC7 News. "In Contra Costa, we plan to stick to tracking progress on our five key indicators to determine when we're ready to move on to the next stage of relaxing our current shelter-in-place restrictions. The governor made it clear that local jurisdictions can retain policies more protective to public health based on local conditions."

Marin County

Start "Phase 2" on Friday? No.

In a statement, Marin County's Public Health Officer said: "We will not be making new allowances for curb-side retail this week, but will be planning toward an opening of these activities May 18th."

Sonoma County

Start "Phase 2" on Friday? Yes

Sonoma is complying with the state's new order by allowing some retail businesses, like stores that sell toys, books and clothing to partially re-open with curbside service only.

Napa County

Start "Phase 2" on Friday? Yes.

"We anticipate modifying our order to reflect the restrictions in the Governor's new order, when he issues it," Elizabeth Scott, a spokesperson for Napa County wrote in an email to ABC7 News.

Solano County

Start "Phase 2" on Friday? Yes.

Some Solano County businesses will reopen on Friday. The county public health officer gave the go-ahead just after 8 p.m. Thursday. The order is similar to that of the Governor's that takes effect Friday across the state. This change in Solano County does not include in-house dining at restaurants. We talked with the health officer about this and he tells us that is unlikely to happen even next week.

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