California’s dizzying road to reopening

With concerns of the coronavirus escalating in March 2020, California Gov. Gavin Newsom did something unprecedented: he shut down most of the state’s economy.

Tens of thousands of businesses were ordered to close immediately, and most Californians were asked to stay at home. The impact was sudden and dramatic. Though the reasoning behind the decision was clear, less certain was how and when the state would reopen.

As the months went by, the state attempted to reopen in fits and starts as the governor and local officials grappled with how to revive a collapsed economy despite the virus’ persistent spread.

The result was a complex set of guidelines that frequently changed, varied from county to county and created a whipsaw effect where businesses were open one week and sometimes closed within days.

The Times tracked decisions in the state’s 58 counties for the entire year, building a database of every change that affected five types of businesses. A typical business owner faced seven rule changes over the course of the year. Multiplied across all of the counties and all five of the business types, public health departments made more than 2,000 rule changes statewide.

California’s crooked path to reopening

Fully open

Open with restrictions

Tracking how open businesses in major sectors were across the state

Closed

Sudden closures

during summer

surge

Major closures

during winter

surge

Widespread

reopenings

Statewide

shutdown

March 2020

March 2021

California’s crooked path to reopening

Fully open

Open with restrictions

Closed

Tracking how open businesses in major sectors were across the state

Major closures during winter surge

Sudden closures during summer surge

Widespread reopenings

Statewide shutdown

March 2021

March 2020

Fully open

California’s crooked path to reopening

Open with restrictions

Tracking how open businesses in major sectors were across the state

Closed

Sudden closures during summer surge

Widespread reopenings

Major closures during winter surge

Statewide shutdown

March 2021

March 2020

The Times tracked regulations forgyms, restaurants, retail, hair and nail salons, classifying the level of restriction over time. Taken together, the database offers one route to retrace the dizzying path to reopening.

How we rated each sector

fully open

closed

open outdoors

open

indoors

The state shuts down

March 24, 2020

After the governor shut down the state, people stockpiled groceries, cleaning supplies and toilet paper. Streets were quiet, and the air cleared up.

Following the governor’s orders, restaurants were limited to takeout and delivery, and gyms and hair salons were closed entirely. All counties were required to follow the state’s restrictions. Some counties, like Los Angeles and San Francisco, chose to go stricter than the state.

As time went by, counties began to chart their own course. One example was face coverings, which were not required by the governor’s initial order. Within a few weeks, several counties went further and adopted mask mandates.

With the spread of the virus concentrated in urban centers, some rural counties began to chafe at the state’s restrictions. In early May, the leaders of Modoc, Yuba and Sutter openly defied the state, opening up restaurants, shopping malls, gyms and other businesses. Newsom threatened to withhold their COVID-19 funding, but he ultimately backed down. The rural counties prevailed and found allies in other counties that increased pressure on the governor to reopen the state.

The summer surge

May 12, 2020

The governor gave a green light to a statewide reopening. On May 8, retail businesses like bookstores, florists, and clothing stores were allowed to offer items for curbside pickup across the state. When the pressure did not relent, Newsom loosened retail rules again just four days later. In some areas, restaurants resumed indoor dining. Before long, Californians could finally get their beards trimmed and their hair coiffed.

While some Bay Area counties held back and kept their businesses closed, much of the state reopened despite failing some of the governor’s initial standards due to continued spread of the virus. Experts warned that moving too quickly could lead to an increase in transmission.

Those warnings proved to be prescient. Beginning on Memorial Day, new cases began to climb. As thousands flooded the streets to protest the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, officials began to consider reversing course.

Reopening rewind

July 14, 2020

On July 1, the governor cracked down and required 19 counties — including Los Angeles, Sacramento and Kings — to roll back indoor dining. A new monitoring list was established to give the state greater authority over local officials.

Cases climbed past 250,000 statewide. Many beaches were closed for the Fourth of July. Within two weeks, Newsom halted indoor dining across the state. Counties both large and small were forced to close gyms, hair and nail salons.

The pause was short-lived. By the end of the month, Newsom allowed barbershops, hair salons, and nail salons to operate outdoors.

Another system, another rewriting of rules

Sept. 1, 2020

The drive to reopen the state got a boost in August when the governor introduced a new color-coded system to guide counties. It introduced a series of metrics to prevent areas from opening before it was safe.

Case counts began to decrease from the summer surge, and many counties began to qualify to open up more businesses. The state gave counties the go-ahead to open nail salons indoors in mid-September. Rural counties, like Sierra and Trinity, took advantage of the opportunity and began to steadily reopen elementary schools, playgrounds and movie theaters. More urban and densely populated counties, such as San Francisco and Los Angeles, moved at a slower pace.

As Halloween approached, caseloads skyrocketed to new highs, and hospitals began to fill up. Challenged to meet the demand, health officials warned that patients could be turned away as intensive care units (ICU) overflowed.

Some counties began to retreat, but it was clear more needed to be done to stop the spread.

Winter shutdown prompted by ICU surge

Dec. 8, 2020

Days before Thanksgiving, Newsom announced new restrictions on businesses operating indoors and a mandatory overnight curfew for nearly all counties.

These changes came too late to stop the surge. Over 4,500 people were hospitalized statewide, more than ever before.

By early December, the governor issued a new stay-at-home order. Newsom justified the order by introducing another statistical measure, ICU capacity. It was the latest of several different efforts at establishing a science-based system for his decisions.

All through December, businesses stayed mostly closed as cases continued to rise, ICU beds were scarce and new variants were on their way.

These were some of the darkest days in California: Los Angeles County's death toll surpassed 10,000. By the end of the year, the state had recorded 2.3 million coronavirus cases.

Hope finally arrived as vaccinations began for healthcare workers, and cases began to drop.

Vaccines bring hope

Jan. 26, 2021

Late January brought a new president to the White House and a new round of reopenings. As ICU numbers improved, the governor lifted his emergency orders. Across much of the state, people were able to dine outside again, get manicures and go shopping at the mall. More kids were back in school, more families returned to their houses of worship and people could work out in their gyms again.

By March, with caseloads down and vaccinations on the rise, counties statewide raced toward reopening stadiums, theme parks and other parts of the economy.

With roughly 34% of the state partially vaccinated, there’s hope that the state could soon return to normal, but public officials say that there is still the potential for another surge.