Exempted Business

Grocery stores/farmers markets, etc.: Yes. Grocery stores, certified farmers’ markets, farm and produce stands, supermarkets, food banks, convenience stores, and similar food retail establishments are encouraged to remain open to provide food and pet supplies to the public. When visiting these establishments, please help retailers maintain six feet minimum distance between patrons, including by providing ample space while shopping and waiting in line.

Restaurants, food trucks, etc.: Restaurants, cafes, food trucks, and similar establishments may remain open to supply meals to the public via delivery and carryout. You can also purchase prepared foods at grocery stores, supermarkets, certified farmers’ markets, convenience stores, and other such food retailers.

Restaurant Suppliers: Businesses that supply food goods and prepared meals to grocery stores and other food retailers are essential and may continue operating.   

Workplace Cafeterias: The cafeteria can operate like other food facilities.  It can serve food to the remaining employees, so long as the employees take the food away and do not eat it in the cafeteria.  The cafeteria must strictly follow the social distancing requirements in the Order.  

Auto Dealerships: The Order allows businesses to deliver products to people’s residences. But car dealerships cannot sell or lease cars in-person. 

Bike Sales/Repair: Bike repair shops are treated as an essential business (the same as auto repair shops), but only to the extent they are necessary to facilitate essential travel.

Cell Phone Manufacturing/Repair: If your business is primarily engaged in supply or repair of cell phones or other telecommunications devices, then it is essential infrastructure and may continue to operate under the Order. 

Cannabis: The Order does NOT allow recreational cannabis to be purchased on a “take-out” basis.  However, it does allow cannabis businesses to deliver products to people’s residences.  

Medical dispensaries can dispense under the healthcare industry exemptions. Suppliers to medical dispensaries and licensed medical growers can operate as well.  Non-medical cultivation, supply, and dispensing of cannabis are prohibited, with the exception of deliveries directly to residences. Dispensaries with a mixed clientele of both medical and non-medical customers can do in-person business only with medical customers. 

Cemeteries and Funeral Home/Mortuaries: Cemeteries are essential infrastructure. Funeral home providers and mortuaries may continue operating to the extent necessary to the transport, preparation, or processing of remains. This means that any employee necessary for the transport, preparation and/or processing of a body may continue to report to these facilities to conduct their work. 

Day Care: Childcare facilities may only operate if they enable employees exempt by this Order to continue working as permitted and only under certain conditions. Among these conditions, children must be cared for in groups of 12 or fewer, groups of children may not mix with each other, and providers may not circulate between groups.

Federal Government Contractor/Supplier: Employees and contractors of any governmental entity may continue to provide the services and products if the governmental entity determines that they are necessary to carry out an essential governmental function. However, to the extent possible, they are encouraged to perform these duties from home.

Golf Courses: Golf courses are NOT considered essential businesses.  Only essential businesses as defined in the Order may continue operating while this Order is in place.  

Government Employees: As a government employee, you can continue to go to work if your employer designates you as an essential employee.  Each government agency is responsible for determining which of its workers are essential workers. 

Gun Shops: Gun shops are NOT essential businesses under the Order.  The Order allows delivery of inventory directly to customers at their residences in compliance with applicable laws and regulations,

Healthcare & Veterinary Services: The Order exempts any business that is performing work related to the delivery of health care, including hospitals, clinics, COVID-19 testing locations, dentists, pharmacies, blood banks and blood drives, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology companies, other healthcare facilities, healthcare suppliers, home healthcare services providers, mental health providers, and veterinary care and all healthcare services provided to animals.   

Home Services (pool maintenance, plumbers, etc.): As pool service is necessary to maintain safety and sanitation. Allowable operations include routine maintenance work like cleaning, chemical balancing and adjustments, and filtration (necessary to, for instance, prevent pool algae from blooming) and safety-oriented repairs. 

Home service workers can keep providing services in homes if they are essential to health, safety, sanitation, or the necessary operation of the home. Generally, this means that plumbing, pest control, important maintenance (to, for example, fix a water leak or a faulty wire), or similar services needed to maintain a safe and sanitary home are allowed.  Purely cosmetic or other non-essential home services for general upkeep are not allowed and should be put off.  Home-based care for children, adults, seniors, and pets is also allowed under the Order.  

Homeopathic Services: Therapists, chiropractors, acupuncturists, and massage therapists permitted to continue operating but only to the extent that the services being provided by such healthcare operators are essential to the health and safety of the public. Anything that can be postponed until this Order is lifted or that can be done remotely – by phone or online – should be. If it’s essential, your provider should screen you by phone for coronavirus symptoms before you leave home. If you go, use social distancing and personal protective equipment during the visit.

Hospital/Medical Centers: All employees of hospitals, clinics, and other organizations that provide healthcare, provide services to healthcare organizations, provide needed supplies to healthcare organizations, or otherwise maintain healthcare operations of all kinds may continue working.

The Health Order does not advise health care workers over 60 to cease reporting to work, even though others in that age group are being directed to stay home.

Hospitality (short-term rentals, B&Bs, Hotels, etc.): These businesses may NOT remain open for vacationing purposes.  Short-term lodging including short-term rentals, hotels, motels, and bed-and-breakfasts, may continue for the limited purposes of either (1) COVID-19 mitigation and containment measures, including measures to protect homeless populations (examples include: isolation and quarantine or the housing of displaced persons); (2) housing workers performing essential business activities and essential government functions within the County; or (3) housing individuals staying overnight in Marin to perform the essential activity of caring for the health and safety needs of a family member.

Infrastructure: if the project you are working on is immediately necessary to the maintenance, operation, or repair of Essential Infrastructure.  Essential Infrastructure means airports, utilities (including water, sewer, gas, and electrical), oil refining, roads and highways, public transportation, solid waste facilities (including collection, removal, disposal, and processing facilities), cemeteries, mortuaries, crematoriums, and telecommunications systems (including the provision of essential global, national, and local infrastructure for internet, computing services, business infrastructure, communications, and web-based services).

Janitorial Services: Janitorial services are allowed because they are necessary for health and sanitation.

Laboratories:  Your lab may operate only if it performs work that is exempted in the Order.  Otherwise, you and your employees are allowed to perform only minimum basic operations onsite at your workplace, and must strictly comply with the Order’s social distancing requirements, including maintaining a distance of six feet from one another, frequently washing hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or using an effective hand sanitizer, covering coughs and sneezes, and avoiding all social interaction outside the household when sick with a fever or cough.  Other than that, employees cannot be onsite at your lab locations. 

Liquor Stores: You may keep your liquor store open if it also sells a significant amount of products like food, and household cleaning and personal hygiene items. 

Moving Companies: Moving companies may continue to assist with necessary residential moves under this Order, since maintaining an available housing supply and keeping people sheltered is essential to the health and safety of the public.  Moving companies may also continue to assist with necessary commercial moves that ensure essential businesses as defined under the Order may continue operating.  Non-essential residential or commercial moves, as well as any moves for non-essential businesses, should be deferred to minimize the risk of transmission.

Non-Profits: Non-profits may remain open if they provide essential services as described in the Order.  This would include non-profits operating food pantries, providing housing for homeless residents, and providing other critical services.  Non-profit organizations that do not provide essential services cannot continue operating their facilities, except to provide minimum basic operations, such as maintaining the value of inventory, keeping the site safe and secure, providing for the delivery of existing inventory to residences or businesses, or ensuring that employees are able to work remotely.  All employees may also work remotely from their residences. 

Notaries Public:  May remain open.

Quarries: Quarries can continue to operate in order to supply materials necessary for the operation and maintenance of Essential Infrastructure or for construction activities allowed under the Order. All quarries must comply with social distancing requirements set forth in the Order to the greatest extent

Real Estate Brokers/Realtors: Generally, most functions in this category are not considered essential and must remain closed.  Real estate agents, escrow agents, and other service providers that facilitate residential transactions like home sales and apartment rentals are essential workers, but all appointments and viewings must happen virtually (via video or live stream).  Only if a virtual viewing is not possible, then in-person showings can occur by appointment with no more than two visitors at a time from the same household, and only one agent showing the unit.  In-person showings or walk-throughs are not allowed when the occupant is still living in the residence. 

Retail (Large and Big Box): Businesses that include an Essential Business component at their facilities alongside non-essential components must scale down their in-person operations to the Essential Business component only.  For instance, if 20% of manufacturing capacity in your business is devoted to essential products, and 80% of capacity is devoted to non-essential products, you can only operate at 20% capacity.  The one exception to this rule is that retail businesses that sell a significant amount of essential products like food, personal hygiene, and consumer household products may keep their entire retail storefronts open even if some of the products they sell are non-essential. 

If you do not sell a significant amount of goods like food, hygiene, or cleaning products, you cannot keep your storefront open. Your store can deliver items directly to customers’ residences.  Other than that, you can only maintain minimum basic operations, such as store security and safeguarding your inventory.  

Title Insurance: May remain open

Warehouse / Distribution: Warehouses/distribution centers may remain open but only to the extent they support or supply those essential businesses.  Warehouses and distribution centers should minimize the number of employees on-site and strictly comply with all social distancing requirements in the Order.