Things Angelenos Can Do In Person Again: Shopping, Drive-In Movies And More

All retail stores in Los Angeles that show they have adopted county safety protocols can begin reopening to in-person shopping as soon as tomorrow, Mayor Eric Garcetti said tonight.

In a separate statement, the county clarified that retail stores, both indoor and outdoor, may open for business at 50% capacity.

This lifting of restrictions, however, does not extend to personal services such as barbershops and hair and nail salons — or to in-person dining.

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Garcetti said the county has applied for a variance from the state to allow in-person dining, albeit with limited capacity, similar to what has been seen in other counties. He said he expects a response sometime this week.

In the meantime, retail businesses are not required to reopen, but if they want to do so, they can download a business kit to learn about the official process for reopening. That kit can be downloaded from coronavirus.lacity.org/business.

Garcetti also noted that houses of worship are also permitted under the new rules to reopen, but they can't exceed 25% capacity or 100 people, whichever is smaller.

Runyon Canyon, the popular hiking and jogging spot, has also reopened as a one-way loop.

Separately, the county said that other openings include:

• Flea markets, swap meets and drive-in movie theaters
• Pools, hot tubs and saunas that are in a multi-unit residence or part of a homeowners association

Garcetti said the city and county are taking these additional steps toward reopening because they have met the requirements that they laid out a few weeks ago. The key metrics Garcetti said the city and county have met include:

• Hospitalizations: California mandated that you cannot move forward until you have a seven-day average change of less than 5%.
• Positive Cases: The state says a locality can only reopen when the percentage of tests that return positive is under 8%. Garcetti said L.A. is under 5%.
• Testing: To reopen, L.A. would need to have a capacity of 1.5 tests for every 1,000 residents. With 10 million people in the county, that means 15,000 tests a day, and right now the county can do 20,000 tests a day, Garcetti said.
• Contact Tracing: L.A. would need to be able to contact anyone who tests positive and within 24 hours call everyone that person has come in contact with to ensure they quarantine themselves. Garcetti said L.A. is sufficiently staffed and training more to handle any potential surge.
• Hospital Surge Capacity: The state requires county and regional hospitals to accommodate a minimum surge of 35%.
• Skilled Nursing Facilities Prepared: All 135 facilities with seniors now provide testing with or without county assistance.
• Other: The city and county have met various other metrics, including having adequate personal protective equipment and ensuring that 15% of the unsheltered homeless population must be in shelters.

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