San Francisco’s Ferry Building is reopening the stores and restaurants in its market hall Thursday after the state declared that it was a transport terminal, not an indoor mall.

The turnabout shows the difficulty in applying state and local health orders to businesses and the arbitrary nature of some rules — all meant to check the spread of the pandemic — that dictate which businesses can operate, and in which fashion.

The city had ruled the building was a mall on Wednesday, a move that forced more than two dozen shops including Dandelion Chocolate, Far West Fungi, Heath Ceramics and Urban Remedy to limit themselves to curbside pickup operations. Restaurants and stores with exterior entrances were allowed to continue operating.

Jane Connors, the general manager of the Ferry Building, said in a statement Thursday that building management was “recently notified” that the state had reclassified the building as a transport terminal. Under state and local shelter-in-place rules, transport terminals are deemed essential operations, while indoor malls are only allowed to open in the later stages of the state’s reopening timeline.

The state has recently moved to place many counties, including San Francisco, on a watch list based on the level of coronavirus infections and other health metrics. Landing on the list essentially forces a county back to an earlier stage of reopening and places stricter limits on businesses and other activities.

“Effective immediately, shops and restaurants inside the building can resume serving customers indoors in accordance with the latest directives from the San Francisco Department of Public Health,” Connors said.

The complex’s outdoor dining tables and the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market and were not affected by the building’s temporary designation as a mall.

On the marketplace’s website, a message alerts visitors that, “We are back!”

“As more of our merchants prepare to reopen, we’ve been hard at work preparing to safely welcome you back,” marketplace officials said in a public health update posted on its website. “We’ve implemented even stricter safety standards and guidelines so that you can shop for your locally made goods with peace of mind.”

Marketplace officials said they have enhanced their cleaning procedures, required face coverings for all staff and patrons, expanded curbside pickup and delivery for shoppers, set up hand sanitizing stations throughout the marketplace, established “one-way lanes” to control foot traffic, and established “hands-free entries where possible to minimize touch points.”

Officials also said they “optimized” its air filtering system and “maximized use of outside air.”

Visitors are advised to keep a 6-foot distance from others while shopping, officials said.

The marketplace website says that merchants’ hours of operations will be updated online.