Riverside County's reopening phase includes department stores, home furnishing stores, with restrictions
RIVERSIDE COUNTY, Calif. - Riverside County is allowing more businesses than most other counties to reopen for curb-side retail beginning Friday, county officials announced.
Florist and toy shops, department stores and other small business retailers will be able to provide services, but they will be limited to curb-side delivery and pickup only.
The county's reopening order includes bookstores, jewelry stores, clothing stores, shoe stores, home and furnishing stores, sporting goods stores, antique stores and music stores.
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Supply chains supporting these businesses, in manufacturing and logistical sectors may also operate.
Seating in restaurants will not be allowed, nor other in-house services such as beauty salons and barber shops, accordance with the state's reopening plan.
"Governor Newsom announced a limited move into stage two of the four-stage economic reopening plan, allowing gradually for more modes of commerce to resume, with modifications,” said Riverside County Board Chair and Fourth District Supervisor V. Manuel Perez. “As a county, we stay focused on the mission of achieving progress across multiple benchmarks of public health and meet the capacity to eventually get more sectors of the economy reopened."
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The county's sheriff, Chad Bianco, said during Tuesday's Board of Supervisor's meeting, that he would not be ticketing store owners who opened early, defying the stay-at-home order.
"From the beginning, I told you I would not be enforcing the stay-at-home order partly because I trusted our resident's ability to do the right thing without the fear of being arrested," Bianco said. "I refuse to make criminals out of business owners, single moms, and otherwise healthy individuals for exercising their constitutional rights."
County health officials have expanded the county’s coronavirus testing capability, with more than 2,200 daily tests being conducted at four sites, to help determine the extent of the illness spread.
Additional testing from a state vendor at eight locations will increase the county’s total testing capacity to more than 3,200 per day.
As of Friday morning, nearly 65,000 Riverside County residents had been tested for COVID-19, with 4,756 individuals testing positive. The county reports 192 coronavirus deaths. More than 2,200 Riverside County residents have recovered from the virus.
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