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Gov. Newsom Expected to Make Restaurant Announcement Tuesday

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California restaurants waiting for permission to reopen have been preparing for the “new normal” in the age of the coronavirus.

Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected Tuesday to provide more details of what’s required before his plan to reopen California’s economy reaches restaurants shuttered since mid-March. Many are already practicing safety procedures they anticipate will be required.

Reopening restaurants is likely to be a disjointed process, with those in rural areas opening first, and eateries in Los Angeles, San Francisco and other urban areas remaining closed longer.

The California Restaurant Association has drafted recommendations that include limiting tables to no more than 10 people. Salad bars, buffets and shared bread baskets would be out.

Other restaurants are doubling down on sanitizing seats, surfaces and doorknobs and removing tables to ensure social distancing.

Restaurant reopenings have become symbolic of the thorny problems of trying to jump-start the economy. Under Newsom’s reopening plan, it could be weeks or even a month before restaurant dining rooms are allowed to reopen.

But Yuba and Sutter counties in Northern California, which have had few coronavirus cases, already have defied the governor by allowing dine-in restaurants to reopen, along with hair salons and gyms.

More than two dozen counties have asked for permission to loosen their stay-at-home orders beyond what the state allows, Newsom said Monday, promising a speedy review.

Read the full Associated Press story here.

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