A city in California has declared all of its businesses “essential” despite a statewide “stay-at-home” order issued by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
As a response to the new reopening guidelines, the city of Coalinga stated in a resolution Thursday that “all businesses within the City of Coalinga limits are declared and categorized as ‘essential businesses’ and are permitted to remain open for the duration of the local and state emergency.”
The Coalinga City Council voted on the resolution on Thursday evening. It passed in a 4-1 vote, reported ABC 30.
The resolution stated that should any business that wants to stay open during this time are strongly ordered to abide by the social distancing guidelines as provided by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which includes keeping a 6 foot distance from people outside your household, staying out of crowded areas, prohibits any group gatherings.
Movie theaters in the central California city are also allowed to open, but they must also follow social distancing guidelines.
Reel Time Entertainment said it will only allow 15 people to enter their theaters, as opposed to the normal 158-people capacity, according to the news outlet. The theater also will vacate two rows between people to make sure that there are at least 10 feet of distance between people within the theater.
The resolution comes after Newsom announced that some businesses can reopen starting Friday.
“We are entering into the next phase this week, end of the week,” he said at a press conference. “With modifications, we will allow retail to start operating across the spectrum.”
The announcement applies to retail businesses deemed “low-risk,” such as stores selling clothes, sporting goods, florists, books, musical instruments, and toys. They will be allowed to operate with curbside pickup, Newsom said. Offices are still not allowed to reopen and dine-in eating at restaurants is still prohibited.
Mimi Nguyen Ly contributed to this report.
