RULES FALL, HOPES RISE
As virus restrictions largely end, residents, businesses, officials celebrate cautiously
Life began returning, for the most part, to pre-pandemic normalcy in Los Angeles County and across California on Tuesday, amid a mix of apprehension and excitement.
All but a few of the state’s coronavirus-induced restrictions, which have limited indoor capacity in businesses and required residents to wear masks, were lifted Tuesday, and elected officials, business owners and others celebrated the occasion.
The Dodgers celebrated the state’s reopening at the team’s evening game against the Philadelphia Phillies, opening their stadium in Chavez Ravine for fullcapacity seating for the first time since the pandemic began. In the third inning, with the temperature hovering at 95, fans were still trickling in from jammed parking lots. Only about half appeared to be wearing masks.
At Langer’s Deli, Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer joined Norm and Jeannette Langer in a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the return of in-person dining
with no capacity limits.
And Gov. Gavin Newsom, who appeared at Universal Studios on Tuesday morning, spoke about what the reopening means for the state.
“Today, we celebrate the incredible strength and resilience of Californians,” he said, “from our heroic health care workers to essential workers across the board to everyday Californians from all walks of life who have supported each other through hardship and heartache over the past year, making sacrifices to save countless lives and enable us to turn the page on this pandemic.”
Specifically, as of Tuesday, capacity restrictions have vanished, meaning amusement parks, restaurants, bars, gyms, bowling alleys, skating rinks, convention centers and other establishments can welcome the same number of customers inside as they did before the public health crisis.
People who are fully vaccinated, meanwhile, can go maskless almost everywhere, with some notable exceptions being on public transit and in school buildings. Those who have not been inoculated still must cover their faces indoors, but public officials have acknowledged that enforcing this requirement will largely rely on the honor system.
The major regulations that will remain in place, though, apply to schools and “megaevents,” which the state defines as events with either 5,000 attendees indoors or 10,000 outdoors. The state still “strongly recommends” proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test for people who attend large outdoor events and requires that documentation for guests of mass indoor events.
While the changes marked a major shift, some people and businesses are taking a slower approach to returning to normal.
Public and private entities alike can still decide on their own to require everyone to wear a mask. Face coverings are still mandated for everyone in L.A. County courthouses, for example.
Even some fitness centers, which were among the facilities that faced the toughest restrictions because of how heavy breathing while working out can spread the virus, still required face coverings Tuesday. The policy disappointed some gymgoers.
Sean Aspinall, 26, of Redondo Beach said he was bummed to find his Torrance LA Fitness still requiring masks Tuesday morning.
“I was looking forward to being able to work out and actually breathe today,” he said.
Elsewhere, though, some gymgoers kept their faces covered, even if it wasn’t mandated.
Amie Gonzalez, at the 24 Hour Fitness in Downey, was among them.
“I’ll stop eventually,” she said. “I just don’t want to rush into it. Plus it keeps my face warm coming here in the morning cold.”
Most people working out at the 24 Hour Fitness on
Tuesday morning wore face coverings, whether on a treadmill or lifting weights. Some said they will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
“I don’t mind the masks; I’m just glad to be back inside,” said Pat Salgado. “I need that energy you get from a crowded gym. It’s not the same energy working out at home.”
And even if customers choose to go maskless, some businesses will keep other health policies in place for the time being.
In Long Beach, The Stache Bar will still keep sanitizer out, some employees may keep wearing their masks, and the bar will keep an eye on the number of customers, manager Denise Pla said. While The Stache won’t keep strict capacity limits, Pla said it’s likely the staff will, for now, try to keep things calmer than the standing-roomonly crowds that were the norm before the virus hit.
“We’ll pack the bar,” she said, “but we’re still going to have someone kind of monitoring that, because I feel like it’s a drastic change if someone’s barely going out for the first time.”
At the Breakfast Bar in Long Beach, most people still donned masks Tuesday morning, and owner Josh Beadel said he will keep the street patio, which opened during the pandemic to allow people to dine outdoors, for as long as possible and will petition to make it permanent.
But the Breakfast Bar did make one change Tuesday.
“We’ve added our bar stool seats back indoors,” Beadel said, “which our regular customers were really happy about.”
Despite the state lifting mask requirements for vaccinated people, many gymgoers don face coverings Tuesday as they get in an early morning workout at the 24 Hour Fitness in Downey. Businesses are still free to require that customers mask up, like the 24Hour Fitness in Torrance, which still requires face coverings for its customers.
Health did not directly respond to whether officials are concerned about another coronavirus surge after Tuesday and what that could mean for the reopenings. Rather, the department said in a statement that wearing a mask and getting inoculated if you are able are “the two most powerful tools” to protect those who are unvaccinated.
“As California reopens and lifts physical distancing requirements and capacity limits,” the department said, “the risk of COVID-19 is still present and increases, especially for those who are not fully vaccinated against the virus.” But Pla still worried. “How long is this going to last before everybody’s going to get pulled back again?” she said. “So it’s split between excited and a little nervous.”
Vivian Hernandez, a manager at Alex’s Bar in Long Beach, said she also felt “leery.”
“We don’t know, when customers come in, whether they’re going to feel comfortable or if they’ll come in at all,” she said. “We’re just like everybody else, wondering what’s going to happen.
“We’re happy that it’s over, but in the same sentence, I want to say I’m terrified it’s over,” Hernandez added. “So now, we’re back to normal. What does ‘normal’ mean? We have to learn what the new normal is.”
Between wildfires and the pandemic, residents haven’t gotten much of a chance to visit the famed Mount Wilson Observatory in quite a while.
As the iconic planetarium
reopened Tuesday, a group of residents came with a present, a watercolor painted by local artist Keni “Arts” Davis that was inspired by a photograph taken by the observatory’s superintendent, David Cendejas, during the Bobcat Fire.
The painting depicts a group of firefighters making their way through smoke-filled skies across a bridge leading to the 100inch telescope. The artists donated the painting on behalf of Altadena residents.
Temperatures rising close to triple digits didn’t do much to put those at the fire-prone destination at ease. made them even more vulnerable,” she said. “We owe it to those who lost and those who continue to suffer from these inequities and to commit to make it right. We cannot go back to the way things were, simply put.”
And in Long Beach, Mayor Robert Garcia and city Health Director Kelly Colopy spoke in Civic Center Plaza.
Garcia lamented the loss of more than 600,000 people in the U.S. to the virus, including his own mother and stepfather.
“My hope would be that we’ve learned from the pain that those families have gone through,” he said, “that we have to be better prepared for pandemics, that we have to listen to doctors and scientists, and that we have to lean in to doing the right thing.”
Still, he said, “Today is one of the better days that I’ve felt in the last 14, 15 months.
“I feel like an enormous burden has been lifted off of the state and the city as it relates to this moment we’ve been really fighting to get toward,” Garcia added. “Personally, I’m just very grateful that the loss of life has been dramatically decreased and slowed down.”