(6 May 2020) Several dozen shoppers streamed into the first California mall to reopen on Wednesday, despite Governor Gavin Newsom's orders restricting businesses because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Doors opened just before 11 a.m. at the Yuba Sutter Mall in Yuba City, the county seat of rural Sutter County, which along with adjacent Yuba County have defied Newsom's order.
Newsom has called the decision by the two counties “a big mistake” that could slow the state’s recovery from the coronavirus.
The counties, with a combined population of about 175,000, are the largest to rebel against Newsom. Restaurants, hair salons and many other businesses barred under the state order reopened Monday in the counties just north of Sacramento.
The mall has a fitness center and about 50 stores but as many as half may not immediately reopen. Social distancing will be encouraged, business hours will be shortened to allow for more cleaning and customers will be able to pick up purchases at curbside.
Newsom urged county officials on Tuesday to “do the right thing” but stopped short of threatening a crackdown. The state is willing to work with them “to accommodate their local needs” but only if proper procedures are followed, he said.
California was the first state to impose a mandatory stay-at-home order, which officials say has helped slow the rise in coronavirus cases but which also has battered the state’s economy. Since taking effect March 19, millions have lost jobs.
The loudest calls have come from conservative and Republican-leaning communities and from small rural counties that have seen few confirmed COVID-19 cases. They have pushed for a swift reopening than huge, dense urban areas that are still struggling with rising numbers of hospitalizations and deaths.
Only one other of California's 58 counties has defied Newsom's stay-at-home order: Modoc, in the far northeast of the state. It hasn’t had a single confirmed COVID-19 case among some 8,800 residents.
Newsom, a Democrat in a Democrat-controlled state, has seen general support for his virus-fighting policies despite protests. He has been reluctant to loosen the order too quickly, preferring a slower approach he says relies on science and data instead of political or economic pressure.
Based on improving data on hospitalizations due to the virus, Newsom planned to make his first significant changes to the stay-at-home order on Thursday and allow businesses like bookstores, florists and sporting goods stores to reopen, with curbside pickup.
The new order wouldn’t apply to hair salons or malls or allow diners inside restaurants, which under a multi-phased reopening plan could have to wait another month or more.
San Francisco Bay Area counties and Los Angeles County, the nation's most populous with 10 million residents, have said they plan to keep local orders that are stricter than what Newsom will unveil Thursday.
The Rural County Representatives of California, an association of 35 counties, has urged members not to permit malls, gyms and salons to reopen until the state restrictions ease.
The state has more than 58,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and nearly 2,400 deaths. However, the number of infections is thought to be far higher because many people have not been tested.
For most people, the virus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness and death.
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