More Businesses Permitted to Open – Check Our Your Local Favorites!

With a number of different business types permitted to open or expand operations as of last Friday, this weekend is a great time to check in with your local favorites!

Last Friday, October 23, the Alameda County Department of Public Health continued to loosen shelter-in-place restrictions, permitting the following additional/expanded business operations:

• Indoor dining up to 25% capacity or less than 100 people*
• Indoor movie theaters up to 25% capacity or less than 100 people per screen*
• Expansion of indoor retail and malls up to 50% of capacity and permitting limited food courts
• Expansion of indoor gyms and fitness centers up to 25% of capacity
• Expansion of outdoor non-contact fitness classes up to 20 people including the instructor
• Indoor family entertainment centers may open activities that are naturally socially distanced, like bowling alleys and climbing walls, up to 25% capacity or less than 100 people*
• Indoor worship services up to 25% capacity or less than 100 people*
• Expansion of wedding and funeral services up to 25% of venue capacity or 100 people*
• Permitted capacities are 25% or 100 people, whichever is less

These additional business activities are permitted after Alameda County has progressed from the Purple (widespread) tier on the State’s color-coded Blueprint for a Safer Economy, through the Red (substantial) tier, to the current, Orange (moderate) tier, thanks to successful social distancing efforts and COVID-19 safety measures.

As restrictions loosen, businesses in San Leandro continue to re-open. Many have already taken advantage of the Temporary Outdoor Facilities Registration program, and others are now opening indoors – or a combination of both. And with businesses continuing to offer socially distanced pick up and delivery options, customers have choices.

Restaurants such as Noodles Pho Me, Horatio’s, El Torito, Elio’s Family Restaurant, and Emil Villa’s Hickory Pit offer outdoor seating while they consider adding indoor capacity. Other eateries, like Joe’s Pho, Denny’s, Paradiso, Chili’s, and Sons of Liberty Alehouse have started to seat diners indoors.

Personal care businesses, such as La Spa Nails, Hollywood Nail Design, and Beauty Salon & Day Spa have been setting up shop outdoors as well. Barbers and hair salons like Professional Touch Barbershop, Glow Hair Salon, and Diamond Cutz Barbershop are now open indoors.

With indoor fitness expanding, places like Anytime Fitness and Pallen’s Martial Arts are also now open.

At Bayfair Mall, the Century Theater is open and offering private watch parties!

While over 30 businesses signed up for the outdoor facility program, it is expected that many more businesses will open now that indoor business restrictions have been relaxed. Please check with your local favorites to see if they are open!

As businesses are reopening, they are implementing important COVID-19 safety measures. Reopening & Recovery Guidelines and safety procedures for businesses and customers may be found at https://covid-19.acgov.org/recovery.page. For technical assistance, businesses can contact COVIDRecovery@acgov.org.

The past eight months have proven challenging, tumultuous, and confusing for most everybody. Businesses have suffered tremendously, employees have been facing perpetual uncertainty, students and teachers have had to adapt to an entirely new way of learning, and residents have adopted a new social rulebook for everything from shopping to going for a neighborhood walk.

In the greater scheme of things, this is still a far shot from “normal,” but it does take an encouraging few steps forward to economic recovery while remaining vigilant in putting the health and safety of the community first.