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Sonoma County tasting rooms reopen
Allie Rasmus reports.
OAKLAND, Calif. (KTVU) - Alameda County will further loosen restrictions under its public health order next Friday.
On June 19, the county is reopening outdoor museums, outdoor restaurant dining, religious services, indoor and outdoor retail, and outdoor fitness classes.
“The indicators we monitor to determine if we should continue moving forward through reopening are stable or improving,” said Dr. Erica Pan, Health Officer for Alameda County. “We will continue to have more cases, but the steady increase in hospitalizations and the steep increase in the case rate we were seeing in late May has slowed and the hospitalizations have stabilized."
The county is gradually easing restrictions in 2-4 week increments.
In alignment with California's guidance, indoor and outdoor retail and outdoor dining will be allowed at reduced capacity to ensure physical distancing and safety plans are in place.
Health officials strongly suggest businesses continue focusing primarily on pick-up and delivery options to limit lines and crowds.
Limited religious services are permitted but can only accommodate up to 100 people or less than 25 percent of the building capacity, whichever is lower.
But as restrictions are about to ease in Alameda County some leaders are questioning whether the entire count should be treated the same.
Alameda County has the highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the Bay Area, with about 4,100 people testing positive according to the latest county figures.
But less than 4% of those cases combined live in the Tri-Valley cities of Dublin, Pleasanton and Livermore.
"We should be looking at the data for the Tri-Valley region as a sub-region and that is a very scientific way to look at the data," said Dublin Mayor David Haubert.
Haubert, along with the mayors of Pleasanton and Livermore co-signed a letter to the Alameda County Public Health Department last week asking for sub-region status and for loosened restrictions.
The letter says the three cities should not be more restrictive than nearby San Ramon and Danville in Contra Costa County where outdoor dining, and outdoor swimming is permitted.
County Supervisor Scott Haggerty also sent a similar letter.
"Those cities are allowed to open up for outdoor dining and other activities. They are in the same subregion as us. And we think we should be able to open up to the same levels as they are," said Haubert.
Donna Governor is a lifelong resident of Livermore.
"The small businesses in our community have towed the line. With the neighboring communities being open, that adds more stress to our downtown businesses livermore and other wineries," she said.
Dr. Vanila Singh, former chief medical officer at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, now at Stanford University, said not all areas should be treated the same.
"I appreciate the challenges that exist there to what is a public health risk. But you have to consider the socio-economic risk. Those are also determinants of health," Dr. Singh said.
KTVU's Rob Roth contributed to this report.