LOS ANGELES (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Friday a new process for reopening businesses that is slower and more gradual than what the state tried earlier this summer amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The new rules create a four-tier, color-coded system that counties will move through based on their number of cases and percentage of positive tests. It will rely on two metrics to determine which tier a county is in: case rates and the percentage of positive tests.

The new process will put more power with the state instead of the counties.

The new rules come nearly two months after Newsom shut down bars, restaurants for indoor dining and a slew of other businesses following a surge in cases after the state’s first reopening attempt.

Under the new process, counties will have to meet certain metrics for three weeks before they can reopen certain businesses. Newsom didn’t immediately say which businesses will be included in which color tier or what the reopening will look like.

The state will now report virus statistics, such as case numbers, on a weekly basis.

The new approach is aimed at ensuring the state’s cases don’t skyrocket when businesses begin to reopen.

�� CA's Blueprint for a Safer Economy is the next evolution of the state's #COVID19 response.

Every county is now assigned to a color tier based on its rate of new cases & positivity to determine which sectors can operate.

▶️ Check your county: https://t.co/snYe5v55Rw pic.twitter.com/uKKx5BCG86

— Office of the Governor of California (@CAgovernor) August 28, 2020

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