Los Angeles County reopens: indoor dining will resume Monday, movie theaters may reopen at limited capacity

LOS ANGELES (KABC) – Officials announced Friday that Los Angeles County will officially drop to the state’s least restrictive red level on Monday, with the state reaching a milestone of 2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine in communities hard hit and prompting a relaxation of requirements for counties to move forward with the economic reopening plan.

County officials said the crossing from purple to red would be effective at 12:01 a.m. Monday, meaning indoor dining can return and indoor cinemas and fitness centers can reopen, the all at limited capacity.

It was not clear whether the county would align with state guidelines or choose to maintain stricter restrictions, but according to guidelines released Thursday, several types of businesses and activities will be allowed under the red level.

As of Thursday morning, the state had administered 1,971,784 doses of the vaccine to low-income communities.

LA County Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer previously said the county should officially go red 48 hours after the state hits the vaccination threshold.

RELATED: Newsom Says State is Close to Meeting Vaccination Target, Leaving Most Counties in SoCal to Red Level

Under the new guidelines, indoor meals can resume at 25% capacity.

The county will require restaurants to have an 8-foot distance between all tables, which will be limited to a maximum of six people from the same household. The rules also call for an increase in ventilation “to the extent possible”.

Restaurant servers must already wear a face shield and a face shield. With the new rules, the Department of Public Health “strongly recommends” that employees upgrade their face covering, using higher quality N95 or KN95 masks, or a combination of double masking and a face shield.

Health officials also strongly recommend that all employees be informed and have the opportunity to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Food service workers are already eligible to receive the injections.

Rules applicable to other businesses once the county enters the red level largely align with state guidelines:

Museums, zoos and aquariums can open indoors at 25% of their capacity.

Gyms and fitness centers can open indoors at 10% capacity, with masking required.

Theaters can open at 25% of their capacity with reserved seating to provide at least six feet of distance between customers.

Retail and personal care businesses can increase indoor capacity to 50%.

Indoor malls can reopen at 50% with common areas remaining closed, but food courts can open at 25% of capacity and in accordance with other indoor restaurant requirements.

The red crossing will also allow theme parks to reopen on April 1 – including Disneyland Resort in Orange County and Universal Studios Hollywood in Los Angeles County – at 15% capacity, with visitors in state only.

On Tuesday, Disney CEO Bob Chapek said the company plans to reopen Disneyland and Disney California Adventure Park by the end of April.

The rules also allow for the resumption of activities in higher education institutions and the reopening of in-person education for students in grades 7 to 12. Private gatherings indoors are also permitted for people from up to three different households, with masking and physical distancing. Vaccinated people can gather in small groups indoors without masking or standing back.

According to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s most recent guidance, when the state hits the 2 million vaccine milestone in low-income communities, counties will be able to exit the blueprint’s most restrictive purple level when their average rate of new COVIDs is reached. daily – 19 infections reach 10 per 100,000 inhabitants – a more flexible standard than the current standard of 7 per 100,000 inhabitants.

Under the new guidelines, Los Angeles and Orange counties have qualified to move to the less restrictive red level because they have both been below the 10 per 100,000 standard for two weeks. Los Angeles County’s new case rate is currently 5.2 per 100,000 people, while Orange County’s is 6 per 100,000 people.

The idea behind the 2 million dose threshold is to ensure that vaccines are distributed fairly throughout the state, ensuring that low-income communities that have been disproportionately affected by the COVID pandemic -19 are not neglected in the vaccination effort. Newsom has ordered that 40% of the state’s vaccine supply be earmarked to ensure fairness in the distribution process.

Ferrer warned the county supervisory board on Tuesday that if the number of cases and the rate of positivity testing in the county have dropped precipitously in recent weeks, things could easily get worse if residents slack off on the control measures. infections.

“This is the month I would say – March, early April – where we have to be extremely careful,” she said. “Because we’ve been here before. We have been here with reopenings. We came here to travel around Thanksgiving and Christmas. We have seen what happens around the holidays if we are not really careful. … We need to keep everyone alive now so they can get vaccinated and stay alive. This would therefore be the time to exercise extreme caution. ”

City News Service contributed to this report.