Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday that California will allow some “lower-risk” retail stores to reopen with restricted operations later this week.

He said specific guidelines for stores to reopen would be released on Thursday.

“As early as the end of this week, you will have the capacity as a retailer with the modifications and the guidelines we set forth on Thursday to begin to reopen for pickup: clothing, book stores, music, toys, sporting goods stores, florists — with Mothers Day coming up,” Newsom said.

The relaxed rules will also allow some manufacturing businesses that support the retail outlets to reopen, he said.

The governor, speaking at his daily coronavirus briefing, said offices and shopping malls will remain closed, along with seating in restaurants.

Newsom said he is able to begin to loosen the sweeping restrictions that he imposed March 19 because testing of Californians for the virus had ramped up to more than 25,000 people a day and reports of new cases of COVID-19 were no longer surging.

The governor, sounding conciliatory toward some of California‘s rural counties that have resisted the sweeping “stay-at-home” orders because they have fewer cases of the disease than big cities such as San Francisco and Los Angeles, said local leaders could seek to further lift the rules.

— From Staff and Wire Reports

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