West Hollywood Coronavirus Update: Los Angeles County Enters ‘Orange Tier' Of Reopening Protocols

Press release from the City of West Hollywood:

April 5, 2021

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health revised its Health Officer Order effective Monday, April 5, 2021, after qualifying for the Orange Tier of the State of California’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy. Community transmission of COVID-19 remains a top concern for local health officials. Even as daily counts have been decreasing in the region, surges in other parts of the nation and concerns about COVID-19 variants signal that it is still vital to remain vigilant about wearing face coverings, maintaining social distance, and frequently washing hands and using hand sanitizer.

Full details of the revised Health Officer Order are on the LA County Public Health website: http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus. Under the Orange Tier, the following business operations and related occupancy limits are now in effect, as of today, Monday, April 5, 2021:

• Indoor operations for restaurants can increase maximum occupancy to 50% or 200 people, whichever is less (red tier modifications for indoor and outdoor operations still remain in place);
• Bars without meal service may reopen outdoors only with masking required (except while drinking), tables must be eight feet apart without counter seating/service, no drinking unless seated, maximum of six people from three different households at each table, no live entertainment and establishments must abide by hours of operation from 11:30 a.m. until 10 p.m.;
• Breweries and wineries without meal service may remain open outdoors and reopen indoors with a maximum occupancy of 25% or 100 people, whichever is less, masking is required (except while drinking), tables must be eight feet apart without counter seating/service, a maximum of six people per table from the same household and TV viewing restricted to outdoors only;
• Movie theaters may increase indoor maximum occupancy to 50% or 200 people, whichever is fewer, reserved seating is required;
• Gyms, fitness centers, and yoga studios may increase indoor maximum occupancy to 25%, masking required at all times and indoor pools may reopen;
• Cardrooms can reopen indoors at a maximum occupancy of 25%, masking required at all times and eight feet of distancing between tables;
• Places of Worship can hold services indoors at a maximum occupancy of 50%;
• Family Entertainment Centers can reopen indoor operations at a maximum occupancy of 25% for distanced activities and masks are required;
• Grocery and retail stores can increase maximum occupancy to 75%;
• Hair salons, barbershops and personal care services (including facials and shaving services) can increase maximum occupancy to 75% with masking required, except for services where customers need to remove their masks;
• Youth and adult recreational sports can apply to Public Health for approval for athletic events, tournaments or competitions that involve more than two teams or multiple individuals; and
• Museums, zoos and aquariums may increase indoor maximum occupancy to 50%.

For more information about the state’s Blueprint tiers, visit the California Department of Public Health website: https://covid19.ca.gov/safer-economy.

Additionally, more Los Angeles County residents are now eligible to register for COVID-19 vaccination appointments. On Thursday, April 1, 2021, all people aged 50 and over became eligible to receive vaccines. Additionally, on April 15, 2021, vaccines will become available to any resident in Los Angeles County who is aged 16 or older. Currently, there are not yet enough doses to vaccinate everyone that is eligible, so LA County Public Health continues to ask for patience until supply increases.

Residents with internet access and a computer are urged to use www.VaccinateLACounty.com to sign up for a vaccination appointment. For people without access to a computer or the Internet, or people with disabilities, an LA County call center is open daily from 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. to help schedule appointments at (833) 540-0473. Additional information, such as links to West Hollywood-area drug store chains offering vaccinations, is available on the City of West Hollywood’s website at www.weho.org/coronavirus in the Vaccines and Testing Information section. The State of California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has established an online tool called MyTurn to assist all Californians in determining eligibility at https://myturn.ca.gov.

While COVID-19 numbers have decreased in L.A. County, transmission is widespread and is increasing in many other states and countries. The risk of spread increases when people are not diligently following safety measures including consistently and correctly wearing face masks, keeping physical distance, and when gathering indoors. Outdoors is still safer than indoors. Individuals are considered fully vaccinated two weeks or more after they have received the second dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or two weeks or more after they received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Fully vaccinated people should continue to wear a mask and maintain physical distance in public.

On Tuesday, February 23, 2021, the City of West Hollywood hosted a COVID-19 Vaccine Panel Discussion, which is posted for viewing on the City’s WeHoTV YouTube Channel at www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgxMx7Lk1Ho.

For answers to frequently asked questions from LA County Public Health, visit: www.publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus/docs/about/FAQ-Vaccine.pdf.

The City of West Hollywood has declared a local emergency in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Individuals are advised to stay at home as much as possible and limit close interactions to those in your household. When in public, community members should maintain your space with social (physical) distancing of at least six feet, and cover your face. Public Health officials recommend that everyone, even those who are vaccinated, continue to follow physical distancing and infection control directives and wear a clean face covering that securely covers both your nose and mouth when in in public.

West Hollywood City Hall is currently closed to the public and has suspended all in-person transactions. Most public City buildings and facilities remain closed. City Hall remains accessible for business and essential services with transactions to be conducted by phone (323) 848-6400 and via the City’s website at www.weho.org.

City of West Hollywood coronavirus updates are available at www.weho.org/coronavirus and the City encourages community members to follow @wehocity on Twitter and Facebook and Instagram and turn on notifications for up-to-date information.

To view essential-business City meetings, tune in to WeHoTV at:

• www.weho.org/wehotv

Meetings can also be accessed via:

• www.youtube.com/wehotv

• Spectrum Channel 10 (in West Hollywood)

• SmartTV Apps: AndroidTV; AppleTV; FireTV; and Roku

For notifications by email, subscribe to the City’s E-Notifications at www.weho.org/email. Visit the City’s event and meetings calendar at www.weho.org/calendar and news archive at www.weho.org/news.

To receive urgent updates to your phone by text and to your email, text your ZIP code to 888-777.

For updates and information about the current numbers of COVID-19 cases in the United States, in the State of California, and in Los Angeles County, visit:

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

• California Department of Public Health (CDPH) www.cdph.ca.gov and covid19.ca.gov

• Los Angeles County Department of Public Health www.publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus

For reporters and members of the media seeking additional information about COVID-19 in Los Angeles County, please contact the LA County Department of Public Health Chief Communications Officer, Carl A. Kemp, at (213) 240-8144 or media@ph.lacounty.gov. LA County Reopening Protocols, a COVID-19 Surveillance Interactive Dashboard, the Roadmap to Recovery, and additional details are available on its website at www.publichealth.lacounty.gov.

For reporters and members of the media seeking additional information about the City of West Hollywood, please contact the City of West Hollywood’s Public Information Officer, Sheri A. Lunn, at (323) 848-6391 or slunn@weho.org.

This press release was produced by the City of West Hollywood. The views expressed here are the author’s own.