Mendocino County to reopen dine-in restaurants, shopping malls

Mendocino County is joining Napa County in reopening dine-in restaurants and shopping malls, after receiving state approval to ease certain coronavirus restrictions.

The state determined Wednesday that Mendocino County meets the requirements to reopen more businesses, the county said in a news release Thursday evening. The requirements include a low prevalence of COVID-19 cases and evidence that the county has the necessary infrastructure to detect and safely isolate new cases.

Mendocino County has had 15 cases of COVID-19, 12 of which have recovered. No one has died from the disease in the county.

Upon receiving state approval, Mendocino County Health Officer Dr. Noemi Doohan issued a revised shelter-in-place order that will go into effect at 11:59 p.m. Friday. The directive will allow limited dine-in restaurants, in-person shopping at retail stores and preventive dental care, the county said. It also permits limited use of shared pools only for child care units, children’s extracurricular units and work groups of lifeguard trainees.

All businesses that reopen must abide by strict social distancing guidelines, the county said.

Salons, lodgings for tourism, bars, winery tasting rooms and public pools are still not permitted to reopen at this time, the county said.

You can reach Staff Writer Chantelle Lee at 707-521-5337 or chantelle.lee@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ChantelleHLee.