California Sees 'Ray Of Sunshine,' Takes First Steps Toward Reopening

[appalachiablue]

Source: Reuters

LOS ANGELES, May 4 (Reuters) - California on Monday announced the state's first tentative steps to reopen from a lockdown designed to contain the spread of the coronavirus, giving a green light for retail stores to open this week, though with restrictions.

California Governor Gavin Newsom said the nation's most populous U.S. state, among the two dozen that still has full restrictions in place, would allow some counties to go further if they met certain testing and protection guidelines. "This is an optimistic day, as we see a little bit of a ray of sunshine," Newsom, a first-term Democrat, said at his daily coronavirus briefing.

Newsom said he was able to loosen the sweeping restrictions that he imposed March 19 because testing of Californians for the virus had ramped up to more than 25,000 people a day and reports of new cases of COVID-19 were no longer surging. California has recorded 2,215 deaths from COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by coronavirus, and nearly 55,000 cases, according to a Reuters tally.

Under the governor's new orders, which will take effect on Friday if new cases of COVID-19 continue to rise only slightly or flatten, most retail businesses can reopen with social distancing modifications. Those modifications will be spelled out on Thursday, Newsom said, but would likely call for "low-risk" stores selling such items as books, clothes, music and toys to provide curb side pickup by customers. Restaurants would still remain closed for in-house dining...


Read more: vhttp://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/california-sees-ray-of-sunshine-takes-first-steps-toward-reopening/ar-BB13ANbV?ocid=iehp

[C Moon]

1. Some restaurants in San Bernadino already opened their doors last weekend.

Supposedly, the crowds were huge at the restaurant.

The response by one of the restaurant owners was, (not an exact quote): "It's so sunny out now, no virus can live through this."
Gee, where did he get that brilliant theory from.

In other words, "I need money, IDGAF if you die 2 weeks after dining here."

[SunSeeker]

5. Yup. Suddenly all the pro-life Trumpers care more about eating in a restaurant than saving lives.

They are convinced they will be fine, that it's just nursing home residents and the frail who are dying, and they don't give a fuck about those people.

[Ellen Forradalom]

2. No risk of running into protestors at the book store

[SunSeeker]

6. LOL

[B Stieg]

3. In Riverside, I don't think Target ever closed!

And they certainly weren't using curbside pick-up.

[regnaD kciN]

4. I'm guessing that Target was classified as a "grocery store"...

...since they do sell groceries (among other things). Same with Walmart and Fred Meyer up here in the PNW. Sure, it might make sense to order those stores to ONLY sell groceries but, with the open plan layout they have, it would be next-to-impossible to enforce.

[SunSeeker]

7. No Targets closed. They're considered essential like Walmart and grocery stores.

Even though a large chunk of the store sells clothes and non-essentials.

[JI7]

9. and they actually have been selling mostly essential items

[IronLionZion]

10. Targets were declared essential

and many locations stuck to selling essential items like food and cleaning supplies and blocked off the other stuff.

[B Stieg]

12. Thanx (all) did not know this!

[JI7]

8. A lot of small businesses have already been offering curbside pickup

and other things like free local delivery and shopping by appointment.

[obamanut2012]

11. Yup, I shop at a local (and great) pet supply place

They already do delivery, but also are doing curbside pickup. I usually do delivery (have been a customer for years), but am now doing the pickup so delivery slots can be used by older folks. They told me they will keep the curbside pickups going forward past CV19 for weekdays.