California health officials on Tuesday released new figures that show Los Angeles and Orange Counties have officials met the criteria for advancing to the next stage of the state's Blueprint for a Safer Economy. The less-restrictive 'orange tier' would allow a loosening of business capacity limits as well as the reopening of bars for outdoor service.
In order to qualify for the orange tier, the county must have an average daily rate of new COVID infections of 3.9 per 100,000 residents and a testing-positive rate of 4.9% or less. Those levels must also be maintained for two weeks in order for the county to advance.
However, it's unclear when health officials in LA or Orange County will actually amend their local public health orders and to what extent.
The orange tier would allow the county to lift all capacity restrictions at retail and personal care businesses and raise capacity limits from 25% to 50% for movie theaters, churches, museums, zoos, aquariums and restaurants. Gyms and other fitness centers would be allowed to increase their capacity from 10% to 25%.
A move to the orange tier would also allow bars to reopen outdoors while card rooms and family entertainment centers could be cleared to resume indoor operations. Stadium events, such as baseball games at Dodger stadium, would be allowed to increase fan attendance to 33%, up from the current 20%. Theme parks would also be allowed to expand capacity to 25%.
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