2 more counties in NorCal reopen businesses and more in defiance of statewide order

Deer cross Main Street in Alturas, in California’s Modoc County, in December 2019. The county was the first in California to reopen in violation of a statewide order. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

by: Los Angeles Times

Posted: May 3, 2020 / 09:48 AM PDT

Updated: May 3, 2020 / 09:50 AM PDT

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Yuba and Sutter counties in Northern California are set to allow many businesses to reopen on Monday in defiance of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s statewide six-week-old stay-at-home order.

The two counties near the state’s capital would join a sparsely populated county in California’s northeastern corner, Modoc County, with fewer than 9,000 residents, that on Friday allowed all businesses, schools and churches to reopen as long as people inside can stay six feet apart.

The move by Yuba and Sutter counties — with a combined population of 171,000 people and just 50 coronavirus cases and three deaths — comes as other California counties on the Central Coast and San Joaquin Valley are demanding to reopen more businesses. On Friday, Newsom said he could make an announcement within days about easing the state’s stay-at-home order.

Newsom’s stay-at-home order, issued March 19, was the first to be issued by any governor in the nation, and experts credit that with helping California see a fraction of deaths of places like New York state, with more than 24,000 deaths. This compares with more than 2,100 fatalities in the Golden State, with 55% of those occurring in Los Angeles County.

Read the full story at LATimes.com.