The city of Long Beach, which has its own public health department and can operate independently from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, confirmed this morning that it plans to align with the state’s red level reopening modifications, which may begin. to take effect essentially at any time. The move, announced at a public press conference by Mayor Robert Garcia in front of the Kress Market on Pine Avenue, means that – as soon as approval comes from state authorities – restaurants in Long Beach will be allowed to open immediately with 25% capacity internal.
This may not necessarily be the case for the rest of LA County.
Currently, all of Los Angeles and neighboring counties, such as Ventura and Orange, remain at the most restrictive purple level in the state. But an equitable vaccine redistribution plan established by state officials is shifting the metrics of change to the lowest and least restrictive red level, meaning that much of southern California could become more widely open for in-house dining and other limited capacity activities (such as indoor gyms, cinemas, increased retail capacity, museums and even public outdoor events) as soon as the news arrives.
“The restaurants will be able to open indoors with a maximum of 25% of the capacity, together with the outdoor meals that are already available,” said Mayor Garcia de Long Beach. “We will also ensure that there will be rules and regulations with regard to restaurants and other facilities with regard to internal detachment and PPE protocol. We want our restaurants to be prepared. “
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Long Beach and Pasadena each have their own independent public health departments and can act in the interests of their own cities regarding things like public health orders and restrictions on travel and business – although most of these public health departments are align with the much larger Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. All regional public health departments are authorized to develop most restrictive (but no less) public health orders than those required by the state.
Eater has contacted the city of Pasadena to confirm its own plans to reopen for indoor dining this weekend, but has yet to receive a formal response. Last fall, the city broke with LA County DPH to allow outdoor dining on site for longer than the rest of the county, at least until the state closed largely a few days later.
Los Angeles County Department of Public Health officials have not formalized their own plans to move to the red level, although Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer said her office will make some changes to the state’s announcement that could be more restrictive – including a limit for dining inside. At a press conference this week, Dr. Ferrer discussed at length a CDC report that indicated an increased risk of COVID-19 infection with maskless diners indoors. Her office is likely to make the red-level changes public within “48 hours” after the state’s reopening announcement, Ferrer said.
The state’s reopening plan depends on an effort to redistribute vaccines that targets the most affected communities. Once two million doses have been delivered to these areas, the qualification metrics for moving between levels – things like test positivity rate – will change, allowing almost all of Southern California to move to the least restrictive red level. A formal announcement on that front has yet to be made, but Mayor Garcia de Long Beach has indicated that one could be done today, although tomorrow is more likely. “It depends a lot on the state,” said Garcia.