SACRAMENTO, Calif. – A rural California county has become the first to permit nonessential businesses to reopen and allow diners in restaurants, defying Gov.
Gavin Newsom’s continuing statewide orders barring such moves during the coronavirus pandemic. Modoc County is “moving forward with our reopening plan,” Deputy Director of Emergency Services Heather Hadwick said in an email to The Associated Press early Friday.
She said the county still has no COVID-19 cases. Hadwick said the county of about 9,000 n the state’s far northeast corner on the Oregon border had not heard back from the governor about its reopening plan, but she asserted that the plan aligns with Newsom’s indicators for reopening.