Restaurants, gyms, museums and cinemas in Los Angeles County will soon be able to reopen for indoor activities, according to a public health announcement made on Thursday that marks the first major reopening of companies since the pandemic began.
The reopening will begin as soon as California reaches its goal of administering 2 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to residents in its most disadvantaged areas – which seems likely to happen on Friday.
After overcoming this obstacle, the state will relax the limit necessary for counties to move from the more restrictive purple category in its four-tier reopening plan, eliminating a number of them – including Los Angeles – to moving towards the less restrictive red layer in some point during the weekend.
Indoor meals are strictly prohibited in the purple layer, but allowed in the red with limited capacity. The milestone will also trigger the expansion of retail activity and personal hygiene services, allowing to increase capacity to 50% with masking required at all times and for all services.
If the vaccination limit is reached on Friday, the new order from the LA county public health officer could go into effect on Monday morning.
Under the new health order, private meetings would be allowed with up to three separate families, with the necessary masking and distance at all times. Fully vaccinated people can meet in small numbers indoors with other fully vaccinated people, without masking and detachment requirements.
“We plan to move to the red level very soon, and that allows for more reopenings and activities allowed in LA County,” said director of public health Barbara Ferrer. “This milestone is the result of companies and individuals working together and doing their part to prevent COVID-19 from spreading. It will be up to everyone – companies and residents – to continue to reduce transmission and to follow safety guidelines closely to keep everyone as safe as possible, avoiding the increase in cases. Even when a relatively small number of companies and individuals do not adhere to security precautions, many others experience tragic consequences. “
The new health order will mark the first time in more than eight months that residents will be able to eat indoors at a restaurant.
As soon as the new health officer order is in effect, restaurants will be able to serve snack bars indoors with 25% capacity.
Clients must sit at least 2.5 meters away from other tables and, inside the house, only one house with a maximum of six people per table is allowed. Restaurants can allow up to six people at a table from three families to dine together at outdoor tables.
Restaurants need a heating, ventilation and air conditioning system “in good working order” and, as far as possible, increase ventilation.
Public health officials strongly recommend that all restaurant employees who interact with customers indoors receive additional mask protection over and above the face protection currently required on face masks. It is recommended that workers receive N95 masks, KN95 masks or double masks and a face shield.
In addition, public health officials strongly recommend that all employees working in closed environments “be informed and have opportunities to be vaccinated,” according to a statement released on Thursday. LA County food service workers, including those working in restaurants, tableware, food delivery and food preparation, have been eligible for the vaccine since March 1.
Other changes defined to occur in the health official’s request include:
- Museums, zoos and aquariums can open indoors with a 25% capacity.
- Gyms, fitness centers, yoga and dance studios can open indoors with a capacity of 10%, with a masking requirement for all indoor activities.
- The cinemas can open indoors at 25% capacity, with reserved seats only where each group is seated at least six feet apart in all directions among any other groups.
- Retail and personal care services can increase capacity to 50% with the necessary masking at all times and for all services.
- Indoor malls can increase capacity to 50% with common areas remaining closed; food courts can open at 25% capacity according to the restaurant’s guidelines for indoor dining.
- Higher education institutes can reopen all permitted activities with the required security modifications, except for residences, which remain under the current restrictions for the spring semester.
- Schools can reopen for face-to-face classes for students from 7th to 12th grade, in compliance with all state and municipal guidelines.
For months, the scene inside all LA County restaurants was the same – tables separated by ropes, chairs stacked in the corners or on top of tables and signs warning customers that tables were temporarily closed.
On July 1, Governor Gavin Newsom ordered the immediate closure of internal operations in restaurants, wineries, tasting rooms, cinemas, zoos, museums and games rooms. His announcement came after California broke a record for new daily coronavirus infections – 8,610 cases, according to The Times tracker – for the second consecutive day.
The worst was yet to come, and LA County struggled to keep its case rates low enough to meet state limits for reopening.
Thursday’s announcement comes about six weeks after LA County lifted its ban on outdoor dining, allowing restaurants to reopen their patios and outdoor tables at 50% capacity, with tables at least 2.5 meters away from distance.
This was the much-needed relief for an industry affected not only by the closings, but also by the limited disposable income of its customers. Many families chose to prepare meals at home during the pandemic, both to save money and to limit exposure.
It is estimated that 110,000 restaurants across the country have closed since the pandemic, according to the National Restaurant Assn.
Data compiled by California Restaurant Assn. show that 1.4 million residents worked in restaurants before the pandemic. Since the closings last March, about 1 million of these workers have been laid off or licensed and are struggling to expect delays in paying unemployment.
In previous efforts to reopen the economy, elected officials have sometimes provided conflicting statements about how best to protect the public from the virus compared to the high rate of unemployment and closures.
Last spring, with the coronavirus spreading across the country, Los Angeles County saw a fraction of the hospitalizations and deaths seen in New York and local officials – after emphasizing the importance of moving slowly to reopen the economy and estimate it would be July before that. decisions were made – it was hastily announced at the end of May that meals inside would be resumed. The reopening led to a sudden increase in cases in the summer.
County supervisors later expressed regret that they did not deliver clearer messages to the public that, just because they could eat in a restaurant, did not mean the pandemic was over. Health officials said that on June 20 – the day after LA County gave the green light for the reopening of bars, breweries, wineries and similar businesses – more than 500,000 people visited the county’s newly reopened nightlife venues.
In early July, California saw the number of new coronavirus cases skyrocket, filling some almost-crowded hospitals.
In late August, Newsom announced a four-tier system that required counties to meet specific metrics before being allowed to open multiple business sectors.
“We are going to be more stubborn this time,” Newsom said during a news conference in Sacramento. “This approach is more rigorous, but we believe it is more stable”.
Since then, LA County, plagued by high rates of new cases, hospitalizations and deaths, has not yet come out of the purple layer.
Last year, the closings met resistance from local authorities, many of whom faced pressure from restaurant owners and chambers of commerce to reopen.
Just before Thanksgiving Day, LA County public health officials announced that they would restrict all in-person dinners for at least three weeks and restrict restaurants – along with breweries, wineries and bars – for delivery and delivery only. The announcement came after the five-day average of new coronavirus cases in the county exceeded 4,000, a threshold that authorities have set to implement the restriction.
A few days later, at a meeting of the county Council of Supervisors, supervisor Kathryn Barger, whose 5th district extends north of the Alhambra to the Kern County line, presented an emergency proposal to reverse the ban on meals to the outdoors, although county health officials said it was necessary. The measure was rejected by 3 to 2, with supervisor Janice Hahn co-authoring and supporting the measure.
“This is the only business that allows its customers to remain, and often for a long time, unmasked,” said supervisor Sheila Kuehl at the November meeting. “And that, I think, is enough to make this stand out. We tried, but the numbers increased. “
Times staff writers, Taryn Luna and Phil Willon, contributed to this report.