UPDATES TO BAY AREA COUNTIES’ SHELTER-IN-PLACE ORDERS

by Michelle R. Ferber and Alexandra P. Saddik

On April 29, Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties, along with the City of Berkeley, extended the existing shelter-in-place order. Though the order has been extended to May 31, 2020, it has been modified to allow outdoor businesses to open up again provided that they maintain proper social distancing protocols as described by the Orders. Outdoor businesses are defined as:

  1. Businesses primarily operated outdoors, such as wholesale and retail plant nurseries, agricultural operations, and garden centers.
  1. Service providers that primarily provide outdoor services, such as landscaping and gardening services, and environmental site remediation services.

Additionally, the new order allows all construction projects allowed under the state order provided that they adhere to the construction safety protocols included with the county Orders. These protocols include maintaining social distancing, preventing shared use of equipment without disinfecting, CDC recommendations for disinfecting work sites, compliance with OSHA and Cal-OSHA, taking measures to limit the number of workers at the construction site at any given time, and appointing someone to monitor and adjust COVID-19 related compliance measures.

Furthermore, the new order allows “[c]hildcare establishments, summer camps, and other educational or recreational institutions or programs providing care or supervision for children” to operate to allow parents to work in Outdoor and Essential Businesses, conduct Essential Governmental Functions or conduct Minimum Basic Operations. The social distancing practices and requirements have not changed from the old health Orders, which means that children must be placed in a single stable group of no more than 12, each group must be separated, and providers may remain with only one group.

Finally, the new Orders allow the use of shared outdoor recreational facilities such as skate parks, athletic fields, golf courses, and archery ranges. However, this is limited to what is allowable under the state stay-at-home order, which notably does not allow golf courses to operate.

The new shelter-in-place orders can be found at the following links:

Alameda County: http://www.acphd.org/2019-ncov.aspx

City of Berkeley: https://www.cityofberkeley.info/coronavirus/

Contra Costa County: https://www.contracosta.ca.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=2180
Marin County: https://coronavirus.marinhhs.org/

San Francisco: https://sf.gov/news/san-francisco-and-bay-area-extend-stay-home-order-through-end-may

San Mateo County: https://www.smcgov.org/press-release/regional-shelter-place-orders-extended-some-rules-ease

Santa Clara County: https://www.sccgov.org/sites/covid19/Pages/order-health-officer-050420.aspx

Ferber Law continues to check for updates surrounding COVID-19 and remains available to assist with your needs. Stay well.

DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.