What will normal look like in Fresno, Valley when COVID-19 rules disappear next week?
For nine months, residents and businesses in Fresno County and the rest of California have operated under guidelines of the state’s color-coded “Blueprint for a Safer Economy.”
But after June 15, those rules will largely – but not entirely – go away. As the number of coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths continues to retreat from wintertime peaks earlier this year, and amid a sense of weariness over masking, social distancing and other limitations imposed to control the spread of COVID-19, California will lift the tier-based restrictions and “fully reopen” the economy.
“Everyday life will feel a lot like before COVID-19,” the state Department of Public Health proclaimed in an informational flyer. “Restaurants, shopping malls, movie theaters, and most everyday places will be open as normal with no capacity limits or social distancing required.”
June 15 is also when California will adopt guidance issued last month by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control indicating that people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 – meaning they’re two weeks beyond getting their second dose of the two-shot vaccines from Pfizer or Moderna or one shot of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine – don’t need to wear masks or stay six feet apart from others in most settings.
On Tuesday, the state Department of Public Health issued what is expected to be its final tier assignments for counties before the June 15 expiration of the blueprint. Fresno, Kings, Madera, Merced and Tulare counties all remain in orange Tier 3, representing “moderate” spread of coronavirus within a county.
A week ago, Kings County appeared poised to advance this week into yellow Tier 4, the least restrictive level of the blueprint denoting “minimal” transmission of the virus among the county’s residents, based on a shrinking number of new cases per 100,000 residents and reductions in the percentage of residents testing positive for COVID-19.
But to officially advance in the tiers, a county must meet all of the criteria for the less-restrictive level for two weeks. Kings County’s rate of new cases ticked back up above the yellow-tier ceiling of 2.0 new daily cases per 100,000 residents this week, keeping the county in orange Tier 3.
That leaves Mariposa County as the only local Valley county in yellow Tier 4.
What happens next week?
Those tiers, and the limitations on businesses and activities, will effectively evaporate on June 15 – the date Gov. Gavin Newsom set for lifting the blueprint if COVID-19 hospitalizations remained stable at low levels compared to a few months ago and if there was an ample supply of coronavirus vaccine for anyone who wants it.
What that means is that retailers, restaurants, museums, movie theaters, gyms and other businesses that have operated with capacity limits and requirements to maintain physical distancing will be able to reopen fully, without restrictions.
It also means that people who are fully vaccinated can go out in public, including many indoor settings, without masks or social distancing; those who are unvaccinated or not yet fully vaccinated will be expected to continue to comply with masking and social distancing guidelines.
For businesses in Fresno County and neighboring Kings, Madera, Merced and Tulare counties, it will mean leaping directly from orange-tier capacity and operating limitations to a pre-pandemic environment. Notably, bars that serve alcohol but don’t serve meals will be able to reopen indoors for the first time since last summer.
There also won’t be any capacity limits for many other businesses that have been able to open to some extent:
- Restaurants, movie theaters, museums/zoos/aquariums and shopping centers that have been at 50% capacity.
- Gyms/fitness centers, wineries/breweries/distilleries, family entertainment centers and cardrooms/satellite wagering centers that have opened at 25% capacity.
- Offices for which remote or telework has been encouraged.
Masks will continue to be required after June 15 for anyone using public transportation, airline travel, and in hospitals and medical facilities.
Special rules requiring vaccinations or negative COVID-19 tests and other measures will remain in place for some large-scale events and activities. People who attend such “mega-events” with 5,000 or more people indoors will be required to confirm that they’ve been vaccinated or have a negative COVID-19 test to enter; such measures are recommended for outdoor mega events with at least 10,000 people.
Even in those environments, however, actual “proof” of a vaccination or test may not be necessary. Owners of concert or sports venues will be allowed to let customers “self-attest” they they, and the people for whom they are purchasing tickets, are fully vaccinated or meet the testing requirements.
While the vaccinated public will be able to go about their business free of masking in most situations, employers won’t have the same latitude with their employees. The state’s Division of Occupational Health and Safety, Cal-OSHA, last week approved modifications to employee-safety measures put in place last year to minimize the potential for coronavirus exposure among workers, over the objections of numerous business and industry organizations.
Among the major provisions are allowing fully vaccinated employees to work indoors without a face mask, but only if everyone in the room – employees and customers alike – are fully vaccinated. If there is a mix of vaccinated and unvaccinated people, everyone must wear a mask.
Vaccinated workers outdoors don’t need to wear a mask, but unvaccinated workers must wear a mask when they are within six feet of others.
Employers can avoid requirements for social distancing or physical barriers between employees if they provide N95 respirator masks for voluntary use by unvaccinated employees in indoor environments or outdoor mega events.
This story was originally published June 8, 2021 at 12:00 PM with the headline "What will normal look like in Fresno, Valley when COVID-19 rules disappear next week?."
