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Yuba and Sutter Counties to Partially Reopen in Defiance of Governor's Order

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On Monday, two more California counties will re-open in defiance of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s statewide stay-at-home order.

Yuba and Sutter counties are adjacent to each other and located just north of Sacramento. So far, the counties have seen 50 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus and three deaths.

The counties will begin allowing certain nonessential businesses to re-open, as long as they follow safety guidelines.

"The only businesses that will not be open are those that are really intensive in terms of the number of people to gather in a room," Yuba County Public Information Officer Russ Brown said. "So, bars are the most obvious. Restaurants can open under this guideline, but they have to have [social distancing] between groups."

Most of these businesses will still be required to have workers and customers practice social distancing and wear facial coverings, Brown said.

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In terms of enforcing these guidelines with businesses, Brown said the county would prefer to not cite violators, but rather pursue educational routes.

"If there are lapses, we will send people just to work with them to kind of get them to compliance," he said. "We are supplying them with the tools with a checklist that they go through. Most businesses have been saying that they are going to follow the protocols."

Brown said one of the reasons Yuba is re-opening is due to bi-county Health Officer Dr. Ngoc-Phuong Luu's concerns about residents not being able to afford access to healthcare.

"They're not going to the doctor because of finances or they're choosing between eating and buying medications," Brown said. "We're seeing that here in this community."

On Friday, Modoc County near the Oregon border opened up hair salons, churches, restaurants and the county’s only movie theater.

— Gabriel Greschler (@ggreschler)

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