Retailers in California can once again hand out free single-use plastic bags under an executive order announced on Thursday by Gov. Gavin Newsom, the latest turn away from reusable bags amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The order permits stores to provide customers with disposable plastic bags for the next 60 days. “It is critical to protect the public health and safety and minimize the risk of Covid-19 exposure for workers engaged in essential activities, such as those handling reusable grocery bags,” it states.

The suspension of the ban was vigorously championed by the California Retailers Association and the California Grocers Association, which have asserted that reusable bags put supermarket employees at risk of being infected with the coronavirus. Since California’s plastic bag ban passed in 2016, providing shoppers with thin, single-use plastic bags has been prohibited in the state. If shoppers fail to bring their own bag, stores have been required to charge them at least 10 cents for a paper or reusable bag.

In a letter to Mr. Newsom last month, the associations requested a suspension of the plastic bag ban until Covid-19 is no longer a significant threat to the state. “This is a laudatory environmental policy, but it is simply not appropriate to expect our employees to handle and load customers’ used grocery bags at this time,” the groups wrote.