LA County al fresco dining is back with new COVID-19 rules

For the first time in over two months, the trapped Angelenos can now grab a bite to eat at one of the area restaurants – and stay there awhile to savor it.

Los Angeles County officially lifted its ban on alfresco dining on Friday, removing the proverbial locks from restaurant patios after a long public health shutdown.

The move not only represents a desperately needed boost to the county’s hospitality industry – which has been plagued for months by closures and restrictions meant to thwart transmission of the coronavirus – but the easing of what turned out to be one of the county’s most controversial rules. put in place throughout the pandemic.

Equally important, however, is what officials say the move does not represent: an imminent end to the COVID-19 crisis, or a sign that residents may reject practices and protocols designed to prevent the spread of the virus. deadly.

Under new county rules, outdoor dining and wine serving seating must be limited to 50 percent of capacity, with tables spaced at least eight feet apart.

Outdoor seating will also be limited to a maximum of six people per table – and everyone seated together must be from the same household, depending on the order of health.

In a nod to concerns surrounding the Super Bowl and other sporting events that could keep audiences out for long periods of time, the ordinance also states that “televisions or other screens showing programs are to remain turned off until further notice. “.

Although the county has seen its rates of COVID-19 cases drop, “the risk of community transmission is still very high,” according to health official Dr Muntu Davis.

“There is no risk in a restaurant or any other place where people from different households are together,” he said in a briefing Friday.

At this point, he added, “we really have to be careful as we move forward, given that we have a major sporting event” ahead, and it’s not uncommon for people to “scream, scream, scream during the excitement of a Game. “

If conditions improve, Davis said the county is considering changing its rules if necessary.

“For now, we need to facilitate these reopenings,” he said. “We want these cases to continue to decline, our hospitalizations continue to decline. Our health care workers are doing a great job … they are tired.

It didn’t take long for customers to make their way to restaurant patios and other outdoor dining spaces.

Abby Hill broke her umbrella, so by the time she arrived at Engine Co. Restaurant # 28, it was unusually wet. On the patio of the downtown LA restaurant, the vibe mirrored the casualness of happy hour. And the systems analyst, visiting from Arizona, was meeting an old friend from college.

“Look at this cool place,” she says, pointing to the entrance to the historic monument, first used by the city’s fire department and then as a credit union. She grabbed her phone for selfies, trying to ignore her messy hair, before scanning the discounted drinks. She opted for coffee, followed by the pineapple, cucumber and strawberry margarita tasting trio.

His friend, Aaron Sanchez from Pasadena, drank beers. He said he was thrilled “these spots are opening again because we need more places to hang out beyond our kitchen and television. I swear, it’s sad that you don’t have a choice when you’re young and single and you have to be quarantined.

The larger table on the covered patio could only seat four people, but James Chen was already mentally calculating to bring his girlfriend and others, maybe for Valentine’s Day. He texted himself a reminder to ask about the reservations.

“I thought of a picnic on the beach, but I’m afraid too many people are going there to escape on Saturday or Sunday,” he said.

The lifting of the ban on outdoor dining is one of the clearest signs to date that the county is moving in a more positive direction. LA County health officials initially suspended the offer in late November amid a growing number of new coronavirus infections.

Shortly after, California issued a new regional stay-at-home order covering all of Southern California, which expanded the ban on outdoor dining and placed many other restrictions.

With conditions improving, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday that those orders would be canceled statewide. Many restaurants in the affected areas were able to reopen for alfresco dining earlier this week, but LA County has stood firm – officials saying they want to work out additional safety measures.

In the weeks since the outdoor dining ban was implemented, some critics demanded to see the data justifying it and questioned whether its benefits justify the economic pain of restaurants.

County health officials, however, said the danger of coronavirus transmission was heightened during any activity when people spent long periods of time near those outside their homes without wearing of masks.

Besides restaurants, LA County breweries can also reopen for alfresco dining, and wineries may offer alfresco tastings.

The recent improvements, while no doubt welcome, live up to the latest push.

In mid-November, county health officials warned they would enforce the outdoor dining ban if the five-day average of new coronavirus cases reached 4,000, or if hospitalizations exceeded 1,750 per day.

Those thresholds seemed almost unthinkable at the time, as they would have represented a return to numbers from the scorching summer wave.

Now, however, bringing cases and hospitalizations to once threatening levels would represent significant progress. Over the past five days, the county has recorded an average of more than 6,500 new cases of the coronavirus daily, according to data compiled by The Times.

This has dropped significantly from a few weeks ago, but remains higher than any other level seen before the last wave.

COVID-19 hospitalizations are also falling at a steady rate, dropping 25% across the county in the past two weeks. However, the number of Angelenos hospitalized for COVID-19 Thursday – 5,669 – is still more than twice as high as the peak of the summer wave.

Officials recognize that a wider reopening of the economy could jeopardize progress. The coronavirus is a communicable disease and can spread widely and quickly as people come into contact with each other more regularly without taking precautions, such as wearing a face covering or maintaining a physical distance.

Unless businesses and residents stay true to the protocols in place, officials say the county may not be able to move forward as quickly and broadly as everyone would like.

“It’s really going to be up to everyone, like most of it has been, in terms of doing what’s right,” Davis said.