SACRAMENTO — Seventeen counties have received the go-ahead from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration to reopen their local economies more quickly than the state as a whole.

The counties largely encompass rural areas in Northern California and the Sierra, with the exception of San Benito County south of the Bay Area. All met state-set benchmarks in containing the coronavirus pandemic to qualify for early reopening.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said last week that some counties would be allowed to reopen sit-down restaurants and permit some in-store shopping if they implemented new social distancing procedures. Schools can also reopen.

As of late Wednesday, counties that received the go-ahead were San Benito, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, El Dorado, Glenn, Lassen, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Tehama, Tuolumne, Yuba and Sutter.

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