NEW TIER BRINGS NEW RULES, LOOSER LIMITS
Restaurants, movie theaters can now double capacity, as can other businesses
As San Diego County this week enters yet another phase in the reopening of its pandemic-era economy, the public will have to navigate a mindnumbing set of new rules and capacity limits, whether it’s dining indoors at a restaurant, catching a new release at the multiplex, or heading to Petco Park to watch the Padres.
While California’s colorcoded road map for safely easing back into something resembling a pre-COVID-19 life is set to vanish by June 15, San Diegans still have two more months to live with a system that rewards both consumers and businesses when infection, hospitalization and vaccination rates continue to decline.
Under the county’s more relaxed orange tier — the secondleast-restrictive in California’s reopening plan—some bu si profitability
ness categories, like restaurants and movie theaters, are seeing their indoor occupancy limits double overnight, offering some hope for a return to
following a year of decimated revenues. In other instances, such as attending an outdoor sporting event, capacity levels will increase significantly
as long as all attendees show proof of a negative coronavirus test or full vaccination against COVID-19.
And still more new rules will go into effect Thursday, when indoor live events like concerts and theatrical performances will be allowed to resume, again with prescribed capacity limits.
As tantalizing as it all sounds, significant challenges remain. Restaurants and theme parks are having a tough time hiring enough workers as they all expand their business operations at once. Also a puzzler for business owners is how to implement a verification process for COVID-19 vaccinations and tests among their patrons.
And then there’s the ever-nagging fear of returning to the more restrictive red tier should COVID-19 hospitalization and transmission rates rise locally the way they have in other parts of the U.S.
“We’ve been here before, and we’re still not completely out of the clear,” said longtime restaurant owner Brian Malarkey, whose three restaurants are now open indoors. A fourth, the more casual Herb & Eatery, ceased operating last year due to the pandemic. “I can’t help but look over my shoulder and see rising numbers in the East Coast. “We’ve been put on a yo-yo, and it’s exhausting for our employees and the customers. I just hope we’re doing the right thing and am excited to get back to as much as normal as we can.”
In the interest of simplifying life under the orange tier, the Union-Tribune has assembled a guide showing what has and has not changed.
So how did San Diego qualify for the orange tier?
The county moved from red to orange because its case rate has been under six cases per every 100,000 residents for the last two weeks since moving to the red tier March 17. That move became a little easier once the state raised the qualifying case rate threshold after meeting a goal to vaccinate more than 4 million Californians living in areas deemed to have the worst access to health care and other resources necessary for healthy living.
Dining out and drinking
Indoor seating at restaurants and bars that serve food has expanded from 25 percent capacity to 50 percent, or 200 people maximum, whichever is fewer. And the 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew has been lifted. There are no changes for outdoor seating, which many restaurants have expanded by moving onto sidewalks and parking areas of streets.
Bars that offer no food service can now open up outdoors, with modifications. Wineries, breweries and distilleries are permitted to operate indoors after being restricted to outdoor-only in the red tier. The capacity limit is 25 percent or 100 people maximum.
Working out
Gyms and fitness centers are also getting an increase in capacity — from just 10 percent to 25 percent — and indoor pools can now open. Indoor hot tubs, saunas and steam rooms are still off-limits.
Going to the movies
Movie theaters can seat 50 percent of their usual capacity or 200 people, whichever is fewer. Many theaters will continue to use online reservations to control capacity and make it easier for moviegoers to socially distance themselves while they munch on popcorn and watch the latest flick on the big screen.
While it’s not required, some movie theaters are limiting concession sales in the theater lobby and instead offering online ordering with treats delivered to where people are sitting.
What about grocery shopping and going to the mall?
Retail spaces, including supermarkets, and shopping centers can reopen to full, pre-pandemic indoor capacity if they stick with public health modifications such as masking, regularly cleaning surfaces and plexiglass barriers at checkout stations. In the red tier, capacity was set at 50 percent. For malls, the capacity limitations for restaurants remain in place for food courts.
Tattoos, haircuts, pedicures
Barbershops and personal care services, which include tattoo parlors, nail salons and other places you go for grooming and pampering, have been open indoors without capacity limits since the purple tier and will stay open. That’s because there’s no evidence these settings play a major role in the spread of the coronavirus.
Case in point: In a report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last July, two hair stylists with COVID-19 who kept their masks on while working with 139 clients didn’t get any of their customers sick.
Museums, zoos, aquariums
These venues can now operate at 50 percent of their indoor capacity. They’ve been able to operate outdoors since the purple tier but were previously limited to 25 percent indoor capacity in the red tier. The orange tier probably won’t change much for visitors to the San
Diego Zoo and Safari Park, as both parks are largely outdoors.
A return to roller coasters
Theme parks were only allowed to reopen a little more than a week ago, and with San Diego now in the orange tier, the overall capacity limit is going from 15 percent to 25 percent. That same restriction applies to any part of the park that is indoors.
Belmont Park in Mission
Beach opened up its rides April 1, and Legoland, which had been closed for more than a year, also reopened that same day, with a wider reopening planned for Thursday. On Monday, SeaWorld, which has been allowing guests under rules for accredited zoos since early February, will now reopen many of its rides. Additional conditions, including required reservations and a prohibition of out-of-state visitors remain the same, regardless
of the tier level.
Family entertainment centers
For the first time under the tier system, such venues — think bowling alleys, escape rooms and trampoline parks — can open indoors. The capacity limit is 25 percent, although that goes up to 50 percent if all customers are tested for COVID-19 or show proof of full vaccination. Masking is required except for food and beverage
Padres games and other outdoor live events
The biggest change is more generous limits on overall capacity, which has gone from 25 percent to 33 percent in the orange tier. That limit, however, rises dramatically — to 67 percent — if attendees can show evidence of a negative test for COVID-19 or proof that they’ve been fully vaccinated. In advance of the Padres’ next homestand, the team has sent out a survey to its season ticket holders querying them about their seating preferences, noting that it may be possible to allow 67 percent capacity in certain sections of Petco Park for those who have provided proof of COVID tests or vaccinations.
Team spokesman Craig Hughner said the Padres are still awaiting clarification on guidelines to see if they will allow for larger capacities in designated seating sections.
Hotels
Hotels have been open since the purple tier, but the move to orange means that on-site fitness centers can use 25 percent of their capacity. And if sweating on a treadmill isn’t your style, you can take a dip in the indoor hotel pool, which was closed in the red tier.
These are incremental changes. What’s arguably more significant is that, starting Thursday, hotels can host private meetings, such as conferences and wedding receptions. In the orange tier, these events can hold 100 people outdoors. If all guests can show that they’ve been vaccinated or recently tested negative against the coronavirus, then hotels can host 300 people outdoors or 150 people indoors.
Some hoteliers have welcomed the news, while others have said the capacity limits are too strict for them to make a profit — a common refrain among business owners frustrated with the state’s tiered reopening system. No decision has been made yet by the state on large conventions, a sector that has been moribund since the start of the pandemic.
Concerts, other live events
Like the upcoming changes for hotel meetings, there will be expanded opportunities for indoor performances starting Thursday. For venues with a capacity of up to 1,500 people, the cap will be 15 percent or 200 people, and will increase to 35 percent if all guests are tested or fully vaccinated. For larger capacity venues able to accommodate more than 1,500 people, the cap for the orange tier is 10 percent or 2,000 people, whichever is fewer, though it could increase to 50 percent if all those attending are tested or fully vaccinated.
Offices
The move to the orange tier now allows offices to be open indoors, although working remotely is encouraged.
Places of worship
Similar to many indoor business activities, places of worship get a bump up in their indoor capacity from 25 percent to 50 percent. These settings include churches, mosques and synagogues, as well as locations where weddings and funerals take place.