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San Diego restaurants will have a new look when lockdown order is lifted

Gov. Newsom said he wants to see hospitalization numbers flatten and decline before he begins rolling back stay-at-home orders.

SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom has revealed an outline for lifting coronavirus restrictions in the nation's most populous state. Newsom said he wants to see hospitalization numbers flatten and decline before he begins rolling back stay-at-home orders.

But he said things won't look the same when the state reopens. 

He said waiters at restaurants will likely be wearing masks and gloves.

The Chinese restaurant Jasmine in San Diego started COVID-19 protocols months before California’s shut down order. They began with hand sanitizing stations on the walls. Then required servers to wear face masks and gloves.

It is a look all California restaurants will need to adopt when they reopen in the "new normal."

“Normal - it will not be - at least until we have herd immunity or a vaccine,” said Newsom.

In visualizing the new normal, Newsom said, "You may be having dinner with a waiter wearing gloves, maybe a face mask, where the menu is disposable, where half of the tables no longer appear, and where your temperature is checked before you walk into the establishment."

San Diegans doing take out in Kearny Mesa said they crave the experience of eating out, but will people still eat out as much? 

“I think we would. That's what we miss - being able to be around people even if at a distance,” one man said.

“As long as the food is the same, yeah,” said another resident.

California Restaurant Association President and CEO Jot Condie said the only thing that is certain is that unfortunately, some restaurants will not survive.

He estimates up to 30% of restaurants in California may not reopen.

“Many are sitting on the fence considering they may not come back with all the funding complexities. Some counties are actually putting more regulations on what a business has to do to open back up again,” he said.

It’ll be up to individual jurisdictions to come up with guidelines for restaurants.

California has been under a statewide stay-at-home order since March 19. Since then, more than two million Californians have filed for unemployment benefits.

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