Los Angeles County business owners excited to welcome back customers as restrictions ease
- 4 years ago
Los Angeles (CNN)George Metsos had to furlough 30 of 37 of his employees due to the pandemic.
Like many businesses, Metsos' restaurant, Patys -- which is located in the Toluca Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles -- took a hit when indoor operations were forced to close.
But on Monday, for the first time in months, he was able to welcome all of his employees back -- along with a slew of customers -- for indoor dining, as LA County eased some of its restrictions.
"It's really a strange feeling for us because we haven't had anyone in the building since Thanksgiving," Metsos told CNN. "We've been waiting for this day to reopen for the longest time ... Personally, I haven't been able to sleep the last two nights thinking about today because I'm so happy for my staff."
Restaurants, which up until now only offered take-out and/or outdoor dining, reopened indoors with up to 25% capacity. Museums, zoos and aquariums were also permitted to reopen with up to 25% maximum capacity. Gyms, fitness centers, yoga studios and dance studios were also able to reopen indoors with up to 10% maximum occupancy.
All reopenings do require wearing masks and social distancing still, according to the Los Angeles Department of Public Health (LADPH).
A Planet Fitness Inc. employee cleans gym equipment before the location's reopening after being closed due to Covid-19 on March 15, 2021 in Inglewood, California.
The easing of restrictions comes as Covid-19 cases have been declining in the county, which currently has about 1.2 million reported cases and more 22,000 deaths, according to the LADPH website.
As of Wednesday, the county has administered 2.7 million Covid-19 vaccines and more than 899,000 second doses.
LADPH announced Friday was the first time hospitalizations had dropped under 1,000 since November, allowing the county to move from the purple tier, the most restrictive in the state's coronavirus reporting system, to the red tier where businesses can slightly reopen.
Source: CNN
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