CA lifts regional stay-at-home order. Here's what that means for Southern California

ByABC7.com staff KABC logo
Tuesday, January 26, 2021
LA County to allow outdoor dining to resume
After Gov. Gavin Newsom lifted the state stay-at-home orders, Los Angeles County says outdoor dining at restaurants can resume starting Friday.

California health officials have lifted the regional stay-at-home order for all areas statewide, including Southern California, where ICU capacity still remains under 15%. But that doesn't necessarily mean everything will be fully opening back up again.

In a press release, health officials said the four-week projection for ICU capacity in the SoCal region was expected to reach above 15%.

The lifting of the order means limits on non-essential activities between the hours of 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. have now expired. Additionally, the 10 p.m. curfews on non-essential businesses will be rescinded. It also means that the state will be returning to the four-tier reopening system.

See the map below to find out where your county stands and keep reading to learn what can and can't open in each color-coded category.

App users: For a better experience, click here to view the full map in a new window

With the exception of four counties in Central and Northern California, all others, including every county in Southern California, will remain in the purple tier. That allows outdoor dining, salons and other businesses to reopen with modifications.

However, individual counties still have the authority to set their own restrictions, and some may decide to keep some of the governor's orders in place as they see necessary.

Los Angeles County officials say they expect to follow the state guidelines and allow restaurants to reopen and other activities to resume with the same restrictions that were in place late last year before the stay-at-home order was triggered.

Restaurants in Los Angeles County will be allowed to resume outdoor dining by Friday, Los Angeles County public health director Dr. Barbara Ferrer said. They will still have occupancy limits and be required to enforce the wearing of masks by staff and physical distancing between tables.

"We'll tip-toe into this weekend and hopefully the sun will shine, we can open something up -- whatever that is -- and we can get some people employed, back to work and start feeding our neighborhood again," said Brad Roen, Vitello's Restaurant managing partner.

Personal care operations such as nail salons and barbershops can reopen for indoor operations immediately with capacity limited to 25%.

Private gatherings are allowed to resume, restricted to a maximum of three households, outdoors only and with no more than 15 people total.

Indoor malls may be open up to 25% capacity. Hotels can reopen for tourist business.

Ferrer cautioned that even with some restrictions eased, it is still important that people and businesses follow protocols for social distancing, face coverings and sanitation.

"This is not the time for people to think we can get back to our normal business and our normal ways of interacting with each other," Ferrer said. "If we're not careful, the metrics that are headed in the right direction will quickly change. So please, do your part to allow us to move forward with careful reopenings while we remain laser-focused on continuing to control the spread."

Every other county in the Southern California region is allowing outdoor dining to resume immediately.

In Pasadena, which operates its own health department independent of the county agency, restaurants are being allowed to reopen with restrictions starting Monday, city officials said.

As a reminder, here's what businesses are and aren't allowed to reopen, whether they can open indoors or outdoors, and at what capacity they can operate within the purple tier:

  • Hair salons: open indoors with modifications
  • Retail: open indoors at 25% capacity
  • Malls: open indoors at 25% capacity and food courts closed
  • Nail salons: open indoors with modifications
  • Electrolysis: open indoors with modifications
  • Personal care services (body waxing, etc.): open indoor with modifications
  • Tattooing and piercing: open indoors with modifications
  • Museums, zoos and aquariums: outdoor only
  • Places of worship: outdoor only
  • Movie theaters: outdoor only
  • Hotels: open with modifications
  • Gyms: outdoor only
  • Restaurants: outdoor only
  • Wineries: outdoor only
  • Bars and breweries: closed
  • Family entertainment centers: outdoor only, like mini golf, batting cages and go-kart racing
  • Cardrooms: outdoor only
  • Non-essential offices: remote work only
  • Professional sports: no live audiences
  • Schools: must stay closed
  • Theme parks: must stay closed

WATCH | Here's a breakdown of each tier in Newsom's reopening framework

Does the new color coded, 4-tier system for monitoring COVID-19 in California leave you scratching your head? ABC7 breaks down what each tier means.