For Los Angeles, that “bright light at the end of the tunnel” that California Governor Gavin Newsom keeps referencing is taking on a yellow hue. As in, the Yellow — or least restrictive — tier of the state’s reopening plan.
L.A. County has remained in the state’s Orange tier for more than three weeks and now has met the Yellow tier criteria for one week. If, as anticipated, Los Angeles County continues to meet the State’s yellow tier criteria for one more week, the County will enter into the yellow tier in the middle of next week.
“We expect to enter the yellow tier in the middle of the week,” said L.A. Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer on Thursday. “We’ll post a modified health officer order on Wednesday that goes into effect on Thursday.”
Moving into the Yellow tier allows for increases in capacity in many sectors including movie theaters, concert venues and theme parks. All of those changes will still require some safety modifications, including masking, distancing and infection control to reduce the risk of transmission.
The sectors with increases in capacity limits include amusement parks and fairs, gyms and fitness centers, yoga studios, private events, bars, hotels and short-term lodging rentals, private gatherings, breweries, indoor playgrounds, restaurants, cardrooms and racetracks, indoor and outdoor live events and performances, wineries and tasting rooms, family entertainment centers, and museums, zoos, and aquariums.
If the County moves to the Yellow tier, the state will post the qualifying data on Tuesday, a modified L.A. Health Officer Order will be posted on Wednesday, and the order will go into effect on Thursday, May 6. While counties can broaden their reopenings within 24 hours, Los Angeles waits an extra day to loosen restrictions so that businesses have time to adjust, according to Ferrer.
Newsom, for his part, confirmed on Thursday that the state as a whole would likely abandon the tiered system of his Blueprint for a Safer Economy in May, an assertion he has made before.
“Look, if we continue to do what we’ve done there’s no question in my mind that we’ll move beyond the Blueprint by June 15,” he said.
City News Service contributed to this report.