Here's what California might look like when quarantine is lifted

Playgrounds and athletic courts in parks across San Francisco stand empty after enhanced restrictions closed them to the public. Playgrounds and athletic courts in parks across San Francisco stand empty after enhanced restrictions closed them to the public. Photo: Douglas Zimmerman/SFGate Photo: Douglas Zimmerman/SFGate Image 1 of / 50 Caption Close Here's what California might look like when quarantine is lifted 1 / 50 Back to Gallery

As California has yet to see the explosion in coronavirus cases and deaths that was initially feared, Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled a road map Tuesday for loosening the state's shelter-in-place order that has closed businesses and schools and kept millions of residents mostly stuck at home since March 17.

Newsom did not set a date for when the social distancing restrictions will be modified, but he hopes to provide a timeline in two weeks if hospitalizations and ICU admissions begin to decline.

The governor offered clues into how daily life might look for Californians under the guidelines that will allow society and the economy to reopen while people continue to social distance. Life will feel more free, but it will be dramatically different from the one we all once knew.

Before you leave your house, you'll likely be required to put on a mask, and before you enter certain businesses or facilities, you might be required to have your temperature taken to ensure you're not running a fever.

Restaurants may operate with fewer tables to provide physical distancing between diners. Servers could be wearing masks and gloves and may offer diners disposable menus.

Newsom also implied the school experience could be drastically different for students and families if campuses reopen in late summer for the 2020-21 school year. The challenge will be to establish guidelines that allow students to physically distance in order to ensure "kids aren’t going to school, getting infected and then infecting grandma and grandpa," he said.

Students might not all start school at the same time, with some arriving earlier and others later under staggered schedules designed to promote physical distancing. Newsom said these schedules will need to be worked out with districts, educators and unions in coming weeks.

In the new framework, students might no longer have recess and lunch time with large groups of their peers and assemblies are unlikely. Newsom also said school administrators will need to rethink P.E. with activities that allow for social distancing.

Large gatherings are likely to be prohibited this summer and possibly until herd immunity is established or a vaccine is widely available. While Newsom didn't provide details, it seems the traditional format for concerts and festivals with people packed together will not be allowed.

"Large-scale events that bring in hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of strangers all together across every conceivable difference, health and otherwise, is not in the cards based on our expectations," Newsom said.

All of these details will be worked out in coming weeks and months, and Newsom said decisions will be guided by the latest research.

“While Californians have stepped up in a big way to flatten the curve and buy us time to prepare to fight the virus, at some point in the future we will need to modify our stay-at-home order,” he said. “As we contemplate reopening parts of our state, we must be guided by science and data, and we must understand that things will look different than before.”

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Amy Graff is a digital editor at SFGATE. Email her: agraff@sfgate.com.