LA County gets the green light to move to orange but decides to stay in red for now.
With the county's COVID-19 case numbers still dropping, the state has moved Los Angeles into the orange tier of its coronavirus reopening system.
But county officials have decided to stay in the more restrictive red tier until Monday in order have a full three weeks of data since the March 15th reopenings before lifting more restrictions.
Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer notes the county's has seen "remarkable" decreases in cases, hospitalizations and deaths.
On Monday, bars that do not serve food will get to reopen, outdoors only.
Indoor capacity will be raised at gyms, restaurants, movie theaters and places of worship.
The county will be a bit stricter than the state demands. For example, it won't be lifting all indoor capacity limits for retail stores. Ferrer says that "doesn't make sense" because we need to continue distancing.
Bars will be permitted to open for outdoor service only with hours restricted to 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.
No live entertainment will be permitted, but TV viewing will be allowed in the bars.
Meanwhile, more contagious variants are circulating in LA County. Limited testing shows they're here but it's unclear how widespread they may be.
But vaccinations are ramping up and eligibility is expanding Thursday to anyone 50 and older and to all adults by April 15