With state approval, dine-in restaurants can now reopen in Fresno County, as long as measures like social distancing and employee face coverings are used. This comes just after the city of Fresno announced an end to its shelter-in-place order, starting Tuesday.
Fresno Mayor Lee Brand said the decision to end the order was not made half-heartedly.
“Today the city of Fresno is flipping the script and saying we can effectively manage the curve while keeping our most vulnerable people and our senior citizens safe while getting our businesses open and putting people back to work,” said Brand.
Instead of “Essential” and “Non-Essential” designations, businesses in the city will either be “Authorized” or “Non-Authorized”.
Mayor-elect Jerry Dyer said that masks are required inside businesses and government buildings, and people are also encouraged to wear them outside.
“The language now says people are strongly encouraged, especially around people, to wear a mask,” said Dyer of outside activities.
The county put out a mask recommendation earlier this week as well.
Council President Miguel Arias also warned people to take safeguards seriously.
“It’s clear for us that individuals have a constitutional right to have their opinion and at times to have extreme views,” said Arias. “But they don’t have a constitutional right to infect somebody else with a deadly virus.”
As of Thursday morning, Fresno County confirmed 1,338 cases of COVID-19 and 20 deaths.
