Health officials reinstated the ban on eating in covered restaurants in Marin County on Sunday, just a week after lifting it.
The county cited the continuing threat of the coronavirus pandemic. The ban would take effect at 11:59 p.m. Sunday and would last at least three weeks.
Outdoor seating and takeaway service remain permitted, with safety precautions.
The order follows an announcement by Governor Gavin Newsom on Friday that Marin and 20 other counties had been placed on a “watch list” due to virus transmission rates. Counties on the list faced setbacks in their economic reopening plans if their data did not improve over the weekend.
“The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) is forming strike teams to help patrol restaurants and other businesses that refuse to comply with COVID-19 security measures,” Marin County officials said in their announcement on Sunday.
Abe Hamami, owner of the Grazie restaurant in downtown Novato, said he never reopened the dining room after the restriction was lifted a week ago. He rejected customers who wanted to eat inside.
“I decided for the safety of the community not to risk it,” said Hamani, who has an outdoor seating area along Grant Avenue.
Teresa Ancona, owner of the Angelino restaurant in Sausalito, reopened her dining room. She said it was “ridiculous” that authorities lift the ban for a week, only to re-enforce it.
“It’s like, OK, I’m going to cut your pinky, and now I’m going to put it back, and now I’m going to cut it again, sorry!” she said.
As of Friday, Marin County public health officials had documented 1,311 cases of coronavirus since the first in mid-March. Seventy patients were hospitalized and 19 died.
The county has reported a 4.3% infection rate from approximately 33,000 tests.
The county did not release updated data on Sunday.
At San Quentin State Prison, more than 1,300 inmates have contracted the virus. The disease is suspected in several prisoner deaths, most recently that of convicted Dewayne Michael Carey on Saturday. Carey, 59, had been sentenced to death since 1996 in a Los Angeles County murder case.
As of Saturday, 260,155 positive cases and 6,331 deaths had been documented statewide, according to the California Department of Public Health.
The cases reported over the holiday weekend represent a downward trend from last week’s giddy numbers when California hit record highs twice. The seven-day average was 5,904 daily cases of COVID-19 with almost 62 deaths per day.
Elsewhere in the Bay area, Contra Costa County recorded 132 new cases totaling 3,564 and two new deaths totaling 81.
Santa Clara County reported 228 new cases and one death Saturday, for a total of 5,077 cases and 161 deaths. Cases have skyrocketed in Santa Clara County since mid-May, with a seven-day average of 156 cases daily. On May 11, the county averaged 14 cases daily.
San Mateo County reported 95 new cases totaling 3,536 and there were no new deaths for the second consecutive day. The county has a seven-day average of nearly 65 cases daily.
Alameda County, which has the majority of cases in the Bay Area, reported 84 new cases totaling 6,556 and two deaths totaling 142. The county has a seven-day average of nearly 152 cases daily .
San Francisco reported no new cases, with a total of 3,776 and no new deaths, with a total of 50 deaths from COVID-19. The county has a seven-day average of 54 cases daily. San Francisco has an overall positive test rate of 3 percent.
Bay Area News Group contributed to this report.
