For the first time in more than a year, the vast majority of Californians can dine indoors, go to the gym, watch a movie at the local theater, or attend a religious service.
The state’s climate has been good in recent weeks, as the number of cases continues to decline dramatically and major cities suspend rules that are among the most rigid and long-lasting in the country.
In San Francisco, picnic groups can be seen gathering in parks as the weather warms up, residents have been able to get together with vaccinated friends and family, and the Bay Area baseball teams are preparing to play for fans in time for their debut. April 1st.
In Los Angeles, one of the most affected regions of the United States, museums and other cultural institutions closed for a year are about to reopen their doors. Disneyland is preparing to welcome residents back in April, and Hollywood is experiencing an increase in film production last month, although the industry has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels.
“In California, we are not going to crawl back. We will roar back, ”said Gavin Newsom, the governor, during his State of the State address in early March. “Today, the light at the end of the tunnel is stronger than ever,” he added.
But despite the optimism, the state has not yet left the tunnel. More than 56,000 Californians were killed by the virus, with hundreds still dying each day, letting state leaders navigate a balancing act to encourage the enthusiasm that will help the economy recover and impose limits on keeping the virus in check.
And against the backdrop of new blockages and rising numbers of cases in Europe, many public health advisers are encouraging states not to let their guard down.
A return to (some kind of) normal?
Since the summer, California has employed a color-coded system to designate the level of restrictions in each county, linked to the number of local cases – with purple as the most restrictive, followed by red, orange and yellow. State officials relaxed the rules this month, allowing dozens of counties to move more quickly to a lower level of restrictions.
Last week, 42 of California’s 58 counties qualified for the red level, putting about 90% of the state in eased restrictions and allowing many non-essential companies to operate in partial capacity indoors for the first time since August. Four counties qualified for the orange level and one even qualified for the yellow level.
Laurie Thomas, executive director of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association, owns and manages two San Francisco restaurants that have been severely affected by the pandemic. She says business owners are eagerly awaiting a return to near-normality.
“We are very hopeful,” she says, adding that even after relying on personal loans to cover the payroll and being forced to drastically reduce her workforce, she considers herself to be one of the lucky ones. Friends with establishments in San Francisco’s once bustling financial district were left to operate in a “ghost town” until employees return from remote work.
San Francisco, currently at the red level, is expected to move to the orange level next week, which would mean that churches and cinemas could occupy 50% of their seats, bars can welcome customers outside and bowling alleys, gyms can open with 25% capacity. Restaurants will increase from 25% indoor seats to 50%, and retail stores will be limited only by modifications of social distance to allow at least 6 feet of space between customers.
Thomas says his customers are increasingly eager to eat there, especially on days when the bay area’s strong cold breezes give chills in open-air dining parks. But it still supports the city’s more measured approach – which has dragged itself even behind state restrictions – if that means there is less chance of the city coming back to the blockade.
“Each time you close, a small restaurant like mine can lose about $ 10,000,” she says, adding that up to 15% of restaurants did not survive the outages and disappeared forever. “Many people are anxious – but we have to go slow.”
Some California residents are less patient. Political pressure is mounting on the governor to allow localities to set their own pace and, along with California’s recovery, Newsom is now battling a recall effort that has been encouraged by the frustration of some residents with the city’s heavy hand blocks. California.
Much of the Central Valley, a conservative and rural region that stretches across the middle of California, remains in the purple layer. Covid had a severe impact on rural workers in the area, who faced higher rates of transmission, and initial efforts to make vaccines more accessible began slowly.
But at Harris Ranch, a hotel and restaurant in Fresno County that faces the Interstate-5 highway, the restrictions did little to slow business down. Joaquin Juarez said the feeling of optimism across the state helped fuel stopovers at his roadside restaurant.
“We saw a huge increase in business with the rest of the state opening up, to the point where we had to make some people wait for 30 or 40 minutes,” said Juarez. California still has travel limits and public health officials are asking people to stay at home and avoid traveling more than 120 miles outside the city. But the rules are not followed. Juarez says 85% of his customers are drivers who leave I-5.
The purple layer means that the restaurant is restricted to outdoor dining, but the large white tent in the parking lot is designed to serve 120 people, with hanging chandeliers, high-backed chairs and Easter decor.
“I think people are getting impatient now,” said Juarez, adding that the restaurant was preparing for the busiest Easter day. Until then, he hopes, the county will be qualified for the red level so that the company can receive more people and offer some seats in its internal dining room. “As soon as we open, I’m sure things will recover and we will be back to normal,” he said. “Just open the doors”.
‘Cautiously optimistic’, but concerns remain
In parallel with its reopening, California is rushing to vaccinate as many people as possible, especially the communities most affected by the virus. To date, more than 13 million doses have been administered in the state, but a recent report found that, when it comes to equitable distribution, the state is among the worst in the country.
“Finding the right balance between trying to prevent disease and trying to minimize the negative impacts of the measures is really difficult,” said Dr. Arthur Reingold, head of the epidemiology division at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health. Although he is concerned about an increased risk of hospitalization and death with fewer restrictions, “day by day we are achieving higher levels of immunity in our communities in California,” he said.
With rising vaccination rates, California has seen Covid’s cases drop by about 42% in the past two weeks.
“We are very optimistic – but cautiously optimistic,” said Dee Dee Myers, a senior adviser at Newsom who was appointed to head the state’s economic and trade development office in December. “Everyone wants to do this safely and reopen as quickly as possible, without running the risk of falling back or putting people in unsafe conditions.”
But concerns remain that California is opening up too fast, especially for those who will be on the front lines when companies reopen. Yanira Revolorio, a Bay Area janitor who works in a department store, said she had not yet been vaccinated and was still anxious about possible exposure to Covid at work.
“They should make the vaccine much more accessible and ensure that all essential workers are eligible,” said the 24-year-old in Spanish. She lives with her mother and avoids hugging her. “I am always very concerned about exposing it,” she said. “I think it’s too early to reopen because not everyone is following Covid’s precautions.”
Some health workers who were on the front lines during Covid’s catastrophic outbreak in Los Angeles in December and January also said they were concerned that many workers had not yet been vaccinated.
“We can’t let our guard down, otherwise we’ll be back to ground zero,” said Marcia Santini, a nurse at the University of California Medical Center in Los Angeles, who was hospitalized with Covid in December. Watching Italy’s return to confinement made her fear that LA might see yet another wave of infections. “We cannot be ignorant. I know how painful this is. We came here; we have to hold out until the majority is vaccinated. “
“It can be a difficult needle to stick,” said Myers, Newsom’s economic adviser, of efforts to remind residents of the risks while easing restrictions. Calling the situation unfolding in Europe and other parts of the world “moderate”, she added that California’s success will depend on convincing people to wear their masks, follow sanitation protocols and continue testing and screening even when cases fall.
“There is a lot more to do and a lot of complexity,” she said. “We want to burn the script. We want to burn the project as quickly as possible and never think about returning. But we are not there yet. “