Coronavirus: Fresno city leaders form task force to plan reopening of economy

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The City of Fresno formed a new task force to plan on how to restart the local economy safely.

Mayor Lee Brand assembled an advisory committee made up of city council members, business leaders, school officials and the county's director of public health.

The group will follow the guidelines set forward by Governor Newsom and state officials last week.

"We're going to go through all these state guidelines while still getting the information from public health on where we stand on the ability of the health care system and then slowly start developing the precautions for every industry," said city council president Miguel Arias.

The committee will outline the gradual reopening for Fresno to figure out when, and under which conditions, non-essential businesses can open again.

They will also look at what circumstances would require a revision to more strict stay-at-home requirements.

The task force plans to have three phases of recovery. They are working to finalize details of the first phase before the city's current shelter-in-place order expires on May 6.