L.A. County Moves Into the Yellow Tier; Additional Restrictions Eased
On Wednesday, May 5, 2021, L.A. County officially moved into the Yellow Tier (Tier 4) of the state’s Blueprint, with COVID-19 metrics falling below the state’s threshold. As of that date, the County’s adjusted case rate was 1.6 new cases per 100,000 people, down from 1.9 the previous week. The county’s seven-day positivity rate was 0.7%, and the positivity rate in the highest-impacted quartile was 0.8%.
As the County entered the newest tier, the L.A. County Department of Public Health (LACDPH) issued a new Health Officer Order easing restrictions on several sectors:
- Amusement/Theme Parks/Fairs can increase capacity to 35%.
- Bars that do not provide meals can operate indoors at 25% capacity or 100 people, whichever is fewer.
- Breweries, Wineries and Distilleries that do not serve meals can increase indoor capacity to 50% or 200 people, whichever is fewer.
- Restaurants can increase capacity for indoor dining to 50% capacity with continued safety modifications.
- Cardrooms, Racetracks and Satellite Wagering Facilities can operate indoors at 50% capacity.
- Fitness Centers can operate indoors at 50% capacity.
- Movie Theaters can operate at 50% capacity.
- Family Entertainment Centers can operate at 50% capacity, 75% if all guests are tested or show proof of full vaccination.
- Grocery and Retail Store capacity remains limited to 75%.
- Hair Salons, Barbershops and Personal Care Services can operate at 75% capacity with masks required, except for services where customers need to remove their masks.
- Museums, Zoos and Aquariums can be open indoors at 75% capacity with safety modifications.
- Waterparks can operate at 40% capacity with safety modifications.
- Youth and Adult Recreational Sports and Community Sporting Events can apply to the LACDPH for approval for athletic events, tournaments or competitions that involve more than two teams or multiple individuals.
- Live Event and Performance Indoor Venues up to 1,500 guests can operate at a maximum of 25% capacity, or 50% if guests are tested or show proof of full vaccination. Venues with 1,501 guests and above can operate at 10% capacity or 2,000 people, whichever is fewer, or 50% capacity for tested or fully vaccinated guests.
- Live Event and Performance Outdoor Venues can expand to 67% capacity with safety modifications.
Additional restrictions for each category apply.
Additional Metrics
From March 28 to April 28, new cases dropped 35%, daily hospitalizations fell 37% and deaths dropped “dramatically” by 82%. On Friday, May 7, 2021, LACDPH announced that “the five-day average of daily hospitalizations is 389, the lowest since the beginning of the pandemic.” In addition, Friday’s daily test positivity rate reached a new low of 0.6%.
Vaccinations
As of May 2, 2021, the County reported administering 8,096,752 vaccine doses, including 5,013,679 first doses and 3,083,073 second doses. Overall, 39% of L.A. County residents are fully vaccinated, and 52% of residents ages 16 to 64 years old have received at least one dose of the vaccine. Two-thirds of seniors ages 65 and older and one-third of adults ages 16 to 64 are fully vaccinated. County sites continue to administer vaccinations without an appointment.