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Phase 2: San Diego County allows more businesses to reopen

Malls and shopping centers can reopen so employees can prepare curbside orders. Traditional shopping by customers inside non-essential businesses is still prohibited

SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — All San Diego retail business can offer curbside pickup and office buildings were given the green light to reopen Tuesday if they meet certain requirements.

The decision was made by the county after Gov. Gavin Newsom announced local health officers can give permission to reopen these buildings.

“We encourage telework strongly where possible, but individuals who need to be present at office-based businesses can resume,” said Supervisor Nathan Fletcher.

San Diego County will begin slowly returning some of its own employees to county buildings later this week based on the governor’s announcement, but Fletcher stressed working from home remains the preferred option right now. Offices of departments that work directly with the public will remain closed.

Malls and shopping centers can reopen so employees can prepare curbside orders. Traditional shopping by customers inside non-essential businesses is still prohibited.

All businesses must complete and post a “Safe Reopening Plan,” which explains how offices will protect customers and employees. 

It does not need to be submitted to the county for approval.

“To date, we’ve done a really good job as a region in coming at this. We want that progress to continue and we want to continue to move forward in meeting our goals,” said Fletcher.

The county is still in the early portion of Stage 2, under the governor’s four stage reopening plan.

Restaurants are prohibited from offering dine-in service, but the state released guidance for owners to review so they are prepared when the county begins allowing limited options.

“This is just further things to think about as we anticipate and look forward to that further reopening. Those [dine-in services] are not reopened at this point,” said Fletcher.

The state has strict guidelines over when counties can progress through Stage 2. Only two Northern California counties, Butte and El Dorado, have submitted necessary documentation.

“We know as county that we have some work to do around building our testing capacity and tracing capacity and to ensure we have enough protective equipment,” said Fletcher. “Those are things we’re going to be doing throughout the duration of this coronavirus evolution.”

Safe Reopening Plan

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