Ventura County became the first Southern California county to be approved by the California Department of Public Health to move forward to accelerated Stage 2 path to reopening, county officials announced Wednesday.
Ventura is also the largest county to be approved to progress further into Stage 2, which allows restaurants to offer dine-in options and all retail businesses with exterior facing entrances to have customers inside their stores, according to a statement released by the county.
“So happy for our County, businesses and employees," said Ventura County CEO Mike Powers in a statement. "A long way to go, but this is a major milestone. The attestation reflects a validation of our collective community and County efforts to protect our community’s health and to support our local businesses. COVID-19 has had devastating impacts on both community health and our economy. We want businesses to be able to reopen and we believe they can and will do so safely.”
Restaurants and retail must register at www.vcreopens.com and follow the guidance before allowing customers inside. More details on California's plan to reopen from COVID-19 restrictions are available here: https://covid19.ca.gov/roadmap/.