Indoor event venues to reopen
Concerts, theater, conferences allowed starting April 15; vaccinated people may sit together
In a dramatic stride toward normalcy, California will allow indoor venues to host events like concerts, theater and conferences beginning in mid-April across much of the state, health officials said Friday.
The changes mean Californians will be able to gather at large indoor events for the first time in more than a year, as infections statewide dwindle. Venues may welcome larger crowds if they require attendees to show proof either of a negative COVID-19 test or full vaccination, and those who are vaccinated will be able to sit in larger groups. That signals California officials’ intent to shape at least some reopening privileges around the vaccine — an unsettling concept for some.
“I’m hoping that most people will be honest, because vaccines are freely available,” Tomás Aragón, director of the California Department of Public Health, told reporters Friday. “We anticipate that the majority of people will be able to do this and the barriers will be removed.”
The new plan, which starts April 15, follows a similar loosening that kicked in Thursday, when outdoor sports stadiums, music and art locales and amusement parks began reopening.
For counties in the most restrictive purple tier,
audiences at indoor events will still be prohibited. In the second-most restrictive red tier, indoor events will be allowed at 10% capacity for venues of up to 1,500 people and 20% capacity for venues with capacity greater than that. Capacity limits increase in the orange and yellow tiers. And the capacity limits in all tiers bump up further if testing and vaccination requirements are put in place.
Private events — including receptions and conferences — are allowed only outdoors in the purple tier and will be limited to 25 people. They’re allowed indoors in the other tiers, starting with a limit of 100 people in the red tier, but only if all guests are tested or show proof of full vaccination.
Spokespeople for the Warriors and Sharks said Friday that they await more discussions with San Francisco and Santa Clara counties, respectively, but met the news with optimism.
“Today is really a big milestone day for getting fans back at the Chase Center to see Warriors games,” Warriors President and Chief Operating Officer Rick Welts said in a video message. “We’ve been working so hard for the last year with both the state and with our county to find a path back for our fans at Chase Center. And the indoor event guidance that was issued by the state is really encouraging.”
Arts organizations likewise applauded the move, though for many reopening won’t occur until later in the year. That’s especially true for theater companies, which typically need months of planning and preparation to put on a major show.
“We have been artstarved for over a year, so this is certainly a step in the right direction,” said Broadway San Jose General Manager Gretchen Feyer. “Although we aren’t able to open our doors in the immediate future, we do look forward to inviting patrons back in the fall.”
Venues may allow sections of people who have been fully vaccinated to sit side-by-side without social distancing, but attendees must still wear masks, Aragón said. That rule suggests concerts and sports teams can maximize their revenue by focusing on vaccinated fans over those who are not vaccinated.
California has administered nearly 19 million doses of vaccine to date, with nearly 6.9 million people fully vaccinated. Starting Thursday, those 50 and older became eligible for vaccines; that pool will expand to anyone over 16 on April 15.
Dr. John Swartzberg, professor emeritus with the UC Berkeley-UCSF Joint Medical Program, said that he had “mixed feelings” about the state’s use of a vaccine passport, which has gained both popularity and criticism recently amid pressure to reopen. Under a San Francisco public health order, the Giants baseball team said Thursday that fans will be required to show proof of a negative test or full inoculation to attend games.
Californians with greater access to resources have been vaccinated at higher rates than harder-hit communities. The Latino population comprises just 19% of Californians who have received one dose, according to the state Department of Public Health, despite making up nearly 40% of the population and 50% of COVID-19 cases, respectively.
“Because they’re not being distributed equitably, then the state basing things on your vaccine status is essentially discriminating against a fellow group of Californians,” Swartzberg said. “If we could assure than everybody has equal access to the vaccine, then I find a lot of merit in the idea of a vaccine passport … The concept is good.”
Another concern is the surge of cases now gripping Michigan, New Jersey and other states. Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an epidemiologist with UC San Francisco, said that California’s move to reopen seems reasonable now given its current test positivity rate of about 1.8% and low hospitalizations.
“The sun is shining brightest over California,” Chin-Hong said. “I always think of it as the sunshine before the tsunami, so I’m a little worried, but right now it is appropriate.”
When asked whether the state is reopening too quickly given the escalating infections across the nation, Aragón said that officials want to see as many people vaccinated as possible in the coming weeks.
“That’s one of the reasons we’re really pushing to make sure that vaccinations and testing are the pathway to opening safely,” Aragón added. “We’re monitoring all that really carefully.”