Governor Brown outlines Oregon's Phase II guidelines

Brown and state health officials revealed what coronavirus restrictions will change as counties enter Phase II, possibly by the end of this week.

Newswatch 12 at for you, this is "announcer says "watching out for you- this is newswatch 12 at 5."

Any reopening comes with risk.

That's just a fact of life right now.

We need to reduce the risk that comes with reopening.

So my two guidelines live on newswatch 12 midday.

All day we've been digging into those guidelines and how they'll impact you.

We have team coverage tonight-- newswatch 12's leah thompson spoke with local businesses that will soon be able to reopen.

First- we turn to alicia rubin.

She joins us live to break down what will be allowed with phase two.

Phase 2 is going to allow for the reopening of many larger venues -- although the governor made clear that she is still concerned about large gatherings.

These reopening's will still follow social distancing and sanitation guidelines.

Here's what you can expect.

Open hours for bars and restaurants will extend from a 10 pm curfew to midnight.

The requirement to work from home when possible will shift to a strong recommendation.

Bowling allies, arcades, theaters, and pools will be allowed to reopen - with sanitation and social distancing guidelines in place.

Some recreational sports can resume.

Zoos, museums and outdoor gardens can also reopen with restrictions.

Churches, social and civic gatherings can have 50 people indoors and 100 people outdoors -- indoor gatherings are based on square footage - the state recommends 35 square foot per person to allow for social distancing.

You can have up to 250 people indoors if your space allows -- this aspect of phase 2 is still being developed.

Governor brown said its a top priority to get students back into classrooms in the fall and right now the state is collaborating with teachers to figure out what that looks like.

She also said oregonians can expect to be in phase twa ld recreation places that fall under those categories alicia was just talking about.

Newswatch 12's leah thompson is live at home.

Today she talked crater rock museum about its reopening process.

The crater rock museum is not hands on.

So it's a much easier transition to reopen.

The biggest thing is maintaining that social distancing.

Inside the museum you will see your normal rocks, fossils and gems. but you will also find these arrows and markings on the floor.

This is to keep people moving in the same direction.

When you walk in you will be asked to use hand sanitzer and you will also be encouraged to wear a mask.

This week is the first time the museum has reopened in almost three months.

It has been a couple months and dare i say it, it has been a rocky road.

It feels really good to be here again be amongst these world class exhibits we have and see people really enjoying what we have to offer.

This week is the museums soft opening with limited hours to test everything out.

Next week the museum will reopen to normal hours.

Coming up tonight on newswatch 12 at 6.

I'll show you just how excited some people are getting when they get to go back to r swimming pools.

But for sports overall, there are still no contact sports allowed.

However, swimming pools will be able to open when the counties enter phase two.

There are still going to be heavy restrictions.

The ashland family ymca is getting ready and is excited to be opening the pool sometime next week if jackson county is approved.

This will also allow for some activities for the elderly community to resume, which the ymca is excited to open back up.

"we really do take that seriously and know that we do have a large number of active older adults that do count on this as part of their daily routine."

If jackson county is approved by friday, it will still take several days for the ashland ymca to open the pool up.