See Which Alameda County Businesses Can Reopen; Latest Case Count

ALAMEDA COUNTY, CA — Shuttered businesses in Alameda County and across the Bay Area began scrambling Monday after the state lifted its stay-at-home order, thus easing restrictions on some local businesses.

The governor's abrupt announcement came as data indicated that the winter surge in coronavirus cases had begun to subside. Some businesses started to reopen within hours of the news.

Alameda County — along with the rest of the Bay Area — was placed back into the purple tier of the state's four-tiered, color-coded COVID-19 risk assessment system. The purple tier is the most restrictive and indicates widespread COVID-19 risk. Residents are urged to continue taking precautions and keep their guard up as the pandemic bears on.

"Thanks to the commitment and sacrifice of Alameda County residents, workers, and businesses under the State’s Regional Stay at Home Order, we avoided the worst of the winter surge and helped our health care workers to continue serving all of us through this difficult period, the Alameda County Public Health Department said in a news release. "However, the number of new cases reported daily is still more than double the summer peak, and residents must continue to comply with COVID-19 safety precautions."

Even so, the return to the purple tier is good news for businesses forced to close when the stay-at-home order first went into effect Dec. 7.

The state will now allow the following activities to resume in Alameda County, with adherence to safety guidelines:

• Outdoor dining
• Hair salons and barbershops
• Personal care services (e.g. nail salons)
• Outdoor gatherings with up to 35 people from up to three households
• Bars, wineries and breweries
• Retail shopping at up to 25 percent capacity (up from 20 percent)

Steve Van Dorn, CEO and president of the Pleasanton Chamber of Commerce, had already received a fresh haircut at Hog's Breath Barber Shop in Dublin as of Monday afternoon and heard local favorite SideTrack Bar + Grill reopened in time for lunch service, with its outdoor patio ready to shield customers from the rain.

"I'm really happy that this has happened," he said.

Though Van Dorn remains hopeful for what could be to come in 2021, he suspects more business closings will be on the horizon.

Dawn Argula, CEO and president of the Livermore Valley Chamber of Commerce, knows of a handful of Livermore Valley Chamber of Commerce members that have closed for good, but believes many that temporarily closed at the onset of the stay-at-home order could reopen as soon as this week. Restaurants seeking to reopen outdoor dining may be able to take advantage of the upcoming inclement weather to contact workers and suppliers so they can reopen when sunnier skies prevail, she said.

"We've been through this cycle before," she said.

The return to the purple tier is a relief to local businesses and indicates a positive way forward, Argula said.

"We were getting close to two months [in the stay-at-home-order] ... and that's just a huge hit to the economy and businesses," she said. "We'll see who survived these two months."

The public should remain vigilant despite this development, the Alameda County Public Health Department said in a news release. The county could continue to move through the state's tiered risk system if people stay home as much as possible and avoid gatherings, including Super Bowl parties.

“We may be past the winter surge, but COVID-19 is still with us,” said Dr. Nicholas Moss, Alameda County health officer, in a news release. “We are only in the early stages of our vaccination campaign, and the virus has shown us it is capable of returning again and again. That means that, even as we cautiously reopen, we must continue to do the things we know work to keep each other safe.”

More than 70,600 COVID-19 cases have been reported in Alameda County since the beginning of the pandemic. Nearly 900 deaths countywide have been linked to the coronavirus.

See a full list of which activities are allowed in purple tier counties here.