An air of anxiety — and a long, long line — surrounded the DMV office on Claremont Avenue in Oakland, one of 25 in the state to reopen Friday after a six-week shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.
One man arrived at 2 a.m. Several more people came at 6 a.m. By 7:45 a.m., 15 minutes before the office opened, more than 100 people stood in a queue that stretched the length of the office and a block down Cavour Street to Miles Avenue.
Most of them wore face masks and some were standing 6 feet apart.
Confusion reigned as rumors spread that only four people an hour would be served, that the wait in line would take several hours, that nobody without an appointment would be helped. When the doors finally opened, the crowd inched forward with a slight murmur but no applause or cheering.
“I wouldn’t call it excitement,” said Jack Kasprzycki, 66, of Alameda. “I would say stress, major stress. People’s lives and livelihoods depend on this.”
The California Department of Motor Vehicles closed offices across the state on March 27 to protect employees and the public from the coronavirus. Expired licenses were extended through the end of the month and people were urged to conduct whatever business they could on the DMV’s existing and new websites.
Pete Auby, a 46-year-old Fremont resident, was one of many in line Friday trying to work out issues for a commercial license. He and others said they couldn’t submit necessary information online.
“Offices like this need to be open 24/7,” Auby said, noting that truck drivers, bus drivers and others with commercial licenses are categorized as essential workers.
A handful of DMV employees wearing masks or plastic face shields worked their way down the line outside the building, answering questions and directing people to use the department’s online services or call to schedule future appointments
“You won’t get inside,” a DMV worker said repeatedly. “You can do that online.”
Customers who had urgent issues that could not be handled online were allowed through the front door after saying they haven’t tested positive for the virus and haven’t been exposed to anyone who has or had symptoms, including a fever over 100 degrees.
Around 8:30 a.m., the line had dwindled to 15 people, most of them with appointments. DMV employees, including supervisors, said they weren’t allowed to speak to the media and referred questions to the agency headquarters in Sacramento.
DMV spokeswoman Anita Gore said all existing appointments are being honored — and those with Friday times were notified by email Thursday.
Appointments that can’t be handled online include: commercial license transactions, impounded vehicles, reinstating a suspended or revoked driver’s license, applying for a reduced-fee or no-fee identification card, applying for a disabled person parking placard, adding an ambulance certificate or firefighter endorsement to a license, providing training evidence to drive a transit bus and completing some Real ID transactions with documents submitted online.
People with appointments were permitted to take tests on computers, sitting 6 feet apart, with each keyboard wiped clean after they were done. Driving tests remained unavailable.
Friday’s opening of 25 offices scattered across the state marked the start of a monthlong phased reopening that DMV Director Steve Gordon announced Tuesday. Another 25 offices or more will open in about two weeks, he said, and the rest should be back in business in a month.
Michael Cabanatuan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan
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