Starting today, people in LA County can grab a bite to eat indoors, hit the gym afterward to work it off and then head to the movies.
All because, LA, Orange and San Bernardino counties have all dropped officially into the "red" tier.
San Diego, Riverside, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties are expected to move to red on Tuesday.
LA County began lifting restrictions Monday, meaning the reopening of gyms, restaurants, movie theaters and museums.
Retail shops and indoor malls will now be able to raise capacity, and schools will be permitted to resume in-person instruction for students in grades 7 through 12.
1. Indoor dining: Restaurants can open indoors at 25% max capacity under the following conditions: 8 feet distancing between tables; one household per table with a limit of 6 people; the HVAC system is in good working order and has been evaluated, and to the maximum extent possible ventilation has been increased. Public Health strongly recommends that all restaurant employees interacting with customers indoors are provided with additional masking protection (above the currently required face shield over face masks); this can be fit tested N95 masks, KN95 masks, or double masks and a face shield. In addition, Public Health strongly recommends that all employees working indoors are informed about and offered opportunities to be vaccinated. Outdoor dining can accommodate up to six people per table from 3 different households.
2. Gyms, Fitness Centers, Yoga and Dance Studios: Can open indoors at 10% capacity with masking requirement for all indoor activities.Gyms and dance studios will get to resume indoor operations, up to 10% capacity.
3. Movie theaters: Can open indoors at 25% capacity with reserved seating only where each group is seated with at least 6 feet of distance in all directions between any other groups. movie theaters will be allowed to reopen indoors, up to 25% capacity.
4. Retail and Personal Care Services: Can increase capacity to 50% with masking required at all times and for all services.
5. Museum, Zoos and Aquariums: Can open indoors at 25% capacity.
6. Indoor Shopping Malls: Can increase capacity to 50% with common areas remaining closed; food courts can open at 25% capacity adhering to the restaurant guidance for indoor dining.
7. Institutes of Higher Education: Can re-open all permitted activities with required safety modifications except for residential housing which remains under current restrictions for the Spring semester.
8. Schools: Are permitted to re-open for in-person instruction for students in grades 7-12 adhering to all state and county directives.
9. Private gatherings: Can occur indoors with up to 3 separate households, with masking and distancing required at all times. People who are fully vaccinated can gather in small numbers indoors with other people who are fully vaccinated without required masking and distancing.
10. Theme Parks: - Capacity will be limited to 15% for parks in counties that are in the red tier; the cap rises to 25% once a county progresses to orange and 35% upon reaching the most lenient tier, yellow.
11. Outdoor sports - Outdoor sports — with fans — and live performances: Also will be allowed to resume April 1, subject to the following limitations: For counties in the strictest tier, purple, capacity will be limited to 100 people or fewer, and attendance will be regionally limited. Advance reservations will be required, and there will be no concession or concourse sales. In the red tier, capacity will be limited to 20%, with primarily in-seat concession sales. The capacity limit will rise to 33% for counties in the orange tier and 67% for those in the yellow. Attendance will be limited to in-state visitors in the red, orange and yellow tiers.
CALIFORNIA HITS GOAL OF 2 MILLION DOSES TO HARD HIT AREAS;
A public health source tells KNX that California has met its goal of administering two million COVID vaccine doses in the hardest-hit parts of the state. This means the rules for moving ahead in the state's coronavirus reopening system will be eased. Meeting this goal means the rules for moving ahead in the state's coronavirus reopening system will be eased, allowing LA and other counties to get out of the strictest tier.
Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer notes while COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths have dropped dramatically since the peak of the winter surge, the latter two remain high. And variants believed to be more contagious are spreading. She says it'll take a lot of cooperation to keep driving down the numbers as things reopen.