Standalone grocery stores in Yolo County may operate at 35% capacity

WOODLAND, CA (MPG) – Effective immediately, standalone grocery stores in Yolo County may operate at 35% capacity. This is an increase from the 20% capacity originally placed on grocery stores by the amended Yolo County Health Officer Order in response to updated capacity limits from the State of California.                                                                                     

On Sunday, December 6, additional restrictions were placed in Yolo County specifically directed at slowing the spread of COVID-19 by reducing interactions between people of different households. Under these restrictions, the capacity of retail industries was placed at 20% and included grocery stores in alignment with the State’s new Regional Stay Home Order. As of December 6, the State increased its capacity restrictions on grocery stores to 35%. Finding this capacity sufficient to still ensure 6 feet of distance between patrons, the County has amended Attachment B of the Yolo County Health Officer Order to align with the State’s grocery store capacity revision.   

While new restrictions are in place in Yolo County from the local health order, the Regional Stay Home Order is not in effect in Yolo County. The order takes effect if intensive care unit (ICU) capacity drops below 15% in a region. If the Regional Stay Home Order takes effect, counties in the region are subject to new State restrictions. Yolo County placed the additional restrictions on December 6 in an effort to take immediate action to reduce COVID-19 spread rather than wait until regional ICU beds were in critically short supply.

Residents are strongly encouraged to stay home as much as possible while certain industries are required to limit operations. COVID-19 is more prevalent in the community now than ever before and activities that may have previously been safe, now pose a higher risk.

To help mitigate the spread of COVID-19, residents are advised to follow these health practices:

• If you must gather, the restrictions listed for the State’s purple tier apply: outdoor only, no more than 3 households, no more than 16 people, no more than 2 hours, wear masks and maintain appropriate distance.
• Stay home if you have symptoms of illness or are high-risk
• Wear a face covering
• Maintain at least six feet of physical distance from those not in your household
• Wash your hands with soap and water or use hand sanitizer regularly

To read the amended Attachment B, visit:  https://www.yolocounty.org/home/showpublisheddocument?id=67482. For additional information about the State’s new Regional Stay Home order, visit: https://covid19.ca.gov/stay-home-except-for-essential-needs/. For more information about Yolo County’s Roadmap to Recovery and see which businesses are currently open, visit: www.yolocounty.org/coronavirus-roadmap. Residents can call Yolo 2-1-1 for resource information. Follow Yolo County on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/YoloCounty or Twitter at: https://twitter.com/YoloCountyCA