LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Los Angeles County card rooms have reopened but only for outdoor-only business -- the latest economic sector permitted to reopen under gradually loosening coronavirus restrictions.
“Things will look a little different here at The Bike, but we are committed to providing the same exceptional service you have come to know and love,'' The Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens proclaimed on its website, announcing its reopening.
The casino noted that due to health restrictions, “we will have limited availability of tables and not all games may be available.''
Hollywood Park Casino reopened its doors at 10 a.m. Monday, while Commerce Casino was welcoming guests at 8 a.m. Gardens Casino in Hawaiian Gardens was open at 9 a.m. Larry Flynt's Hustler Casino and Lady Luck Casino were expected to reopen later Monday.
Los Angeles County health officials last week cleared card rooms to reopen beginning Monday, but restricted them to outdoor gaming operations only at 25% of normal capacity, with mandatory face coverings and no food or beverage service at gaming tables. Indoor activities at the casino are restricted primarily to employee duties.
The county on Monday also began accepting waiver applications from schools that want to provide in-person instruction for students in pre-kindergarten through second-grade. The waivers, which must be approved by the county and the state, will be limited to 30 schools per week, with priority given to campuses in the generally lowest-income areas.
Schools that are granted waivers will have to limit groups of students to no more than 12, and no more than two supervising adults in each classroom. Those teacher-student groups must remain together for the entire day “for all activities,'' according to the county.
Schools in the county were previously cleared to offer in-person instruction to high-need students.
Nail salons in the county were permitted to reopen with indoor operations beginning last Thursday, but they were limited to 25% of capacity. Health officials urged salons to continue offering outdoor services as much as possible.
Indoor shopping malls will be permitted to reopen on Wednesday, also limited to 25% of capacity.
Outdoor playgrounds were also cleared to reopen across the county, at the discretion of individual cities. Everyone over age 2 must wear a face covering at playgrounds, and adult supervision is required.
Health officials said last week they were still working with county attorneys to finalize plans for the resumption of outdoor beverage service -- with food sold by third-party providers -- at breweries and wineries. That process is expected to be “completed in a week,'' according to the county.
Some county officials expressed concern last week that permitting breweries to reopen with an outside food vendor would lead to backlash from bar owners, who are still prohibited from operating. The city of Long Beach, which has its own health department separate from the county, permitted the reopening beginning Monday of all “brewpubs, breweries, bars, pubs, craft distilleries and wineries'' that don't have restaurant licenses but partner with a third-party food provider to serve meals.
County public health director Barbara Ferrer on Monday again stressed the need for all of the reopening businesses to adhere to all of the health protocols, and for customers to do the same. She noted that some previous business reopenings -- most notably indoor restaurant dining -- had to be rolled back due to a sudden increase in virus cases.
“I use the phrase cautious reopening often when I talk about our approach to recovery here in L.A. County,'' Ferrer said. “As we learned in July, closings and reopenings have a very direct impact on the transmission of virus in our community. ... The spike in cases, hospitalizations and deaths that we saw in July came after Memorial Day, July Fourth and also after a number of reopenings, all in very quick succession.''
She said case numbers dropped again after business sectors were closed again.
“Compliance on everyone's part is so important in reopening sectors and continuing to keep them open,'' Ferrer said. “None of us wants to move backward in our recovery.''
The county Department of Public Health on Monday reported another seven coronavirus-related deaths, while Pasadena health officials announced two fatalities, lifting the countywide total since the onset of the pandemic to 6,656.
The county also announced 472 new cases, while Long Beach health officials added 76 more, raising the cumulative total to 275,018.
Case numbers are traditionally lower early in the week due to reporting lags from weekend testing.
Hospitalizations in the county related to the coronavirus were at 674 as of Monday, up one from Sunday.
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