Alameda County will allow many more kinds of businesses to reopen under new health orders late next week, as officials in the Bay Area county with the highest COVID-19 caseload say they are seeing encouraging indicators and are improving and expanding contact tracing.

As of June 19, all retail stores will be allowed to open for indoor and outdoor shopping, and outdoor dining at sit-down restaurants will be permitted, albeit with reduced customer loads to ensure social distancing, county spokeswoman Neetu Balram said in a statement Thursday afternoon.

Residents and businesses should still primarily focus on pick-up and delivery options to limit lines and crowds, the county said.

Outdoor museums, and fitness classes will be allowed, as will limited indoor religious services, with up to 100 people or only 25 percent of the building capacity, whichever is less.

However, the county still “strongly recommended” faith leaders continue virtual services, “especially for their high-risk congregants” and to provide services outdoors wherever possible, and limit size to 25 people.

“The indicators we monitor to determine if we should continue moving forward through reopening are stable or improving,” Dr. Erica Pan, the county’s health officer said.

“We will continue to have more cases, but the steady increase in hospitalizations and the steep increase in the case rate we were seeing in late May has slowed and the hospitalizations have stabilized,” she added.

Through June 11, Alameda County reported it had 4,216 COVID-19 cases, including tallies from Berkeley, which has its own health department. There have been 109 total deaths recorded to date.

By the end of the day Wednesday, there were 16,470 confirmed cases and 480 deaths recorded in the Bay Area’s nine counties plus Santa Cruz County, according to data compiled by this news organization. Those 10 counties are home to 8 million of California’s 39.7 million residents.

The statement from Alameda County health officials noted “we are still in the first wave of the pandemic,” and the virus that causes COVID-19 is “highly infectious,” so precautions must be taken.

The allowance of more activities next week “relies heavily on all of us continuing the consistent use of face coverings, maintaining physical distancing, and practicing good hand hygiene,” Colleen Chawla, the head of Alameda County’s Health Care Services Agency.

“These measures ensure that we are not only protecting ourselves and our families, but also the frontline workers in the businesses we will enjoy,” Chawla said.

On Monday, June 8, the county moved to allow residents to gather outside with people in socially distanced 12-person “social bubbles,” and said each further loosening step in its Reopening Plan would be expected in two to four weeks.

Following the enactment of the June 19 loosening, the county’s next step would look to allow hair salons and barber shops to resume business, indoor dining at restaurants, professional sports without fans and shared pools.

“All businesses allowed to operate under the county health orders must complete the Site-Specific Protection Plan template and implement risk assessment and control measures, physical distancing, disinfecting and cleaning protocols, and employee training to prevent the spread of COVID-19,” the county said.

County officials also noted that anyone taking part in ongoing protests should wear a face covering and get tested.

A list of community testing sites are available at this county link. All of the testing sites do not require insurance and will not ask about immigration status, the county said.