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San Diego leaders preview new dine-in protocols as restaurants prepare to reopen

San Diego leaders said they want "to ensure San Diego is ready to safely reopen additional sectors of the economy when state orders are lifted."

SAN DIEGO — Mayor Kevin Faulconer joined Councilmember Mark Kersey and restaurant owner Phil Pace on Monday to demonstrate new dine-in protocols being put in place by the restaurant industry as it prepares to safely reopen to the public.

San Diego leaders said they want "to ensure San Diego is ready to safely reopen additional sectors of the economy when state orders are lifted."

Many of the strategies being embraced by the restaurant industry come from the Responsible COVID-19 Economic Reopening (RECOVER) Advisory Group created by Mayor Faulconer and County Board of Supervisors Chairman Greg Cox last month to ensure a healthy and safe environment for employees and customers.

"We’re not putting profits over people’s lives, OK?" said Pace. "We love this business; I love the employees that work for me. We should be able to put them back to work safely."

Faulconer said the San Diego region is poised to take additional actions this week to secure more local control for urban counties like San Diego, which is seeing sustained progress against COVID-19, to reopen safely.

"Our San Diego restaurants and small businesses are ready to go. We’re sending a clear and direct message to Sacramento to the governor, give San Diego the local control to be able to reopen safely," Faulconer said.

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors will vote Tuesday on an accelerated safe reopening proposal that includes metrics that are more realistic for counties with larger populations. 

The proposal addresses the accelerated reopening criteria Governor Gavin Newsom laid out earlier this month, which Mayor Faulconer and several county leaders have called unrealistic. If approved by the Board of Supervisors, it will be sent to Newsom for his consideration.

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