For the first time in more than a year, the vast majority of Californians can eat indoors, go to the gym, take a movie in their local theater, or attend a religious service.
The state of mind in the state has been alive over the past few weeks, as the numbers in cases continue to drop dramatically and the big cities have lifted the rules that were some of the strictest and most protracted in the country.
In San Francisco, groups of picnickers could be seen gathering in parks as the weather warmed up, and residents could reunite with vaccinated friends and family members and prepare the Bay Area baseball teams to play in time for fans for the April 1 opening day.
In Los Angeles, one of the hardest hit regions in the US, museums and other cultural institutions that have been closed for a year are ready to reopen their doors. Disneyland is getting ready to welcome residents back in April, and Hollywood has been experiencing a boom in film productions over the past month, although the industry is still not at the level of pre-pandemic again.
“In California we are not going to crawl again. We will roar back, “Gavin Newsom, the governor, said during his state of the nation address in early March. “Today, the light at the end of the tunnel is brighter than ever,” he added.
But despite the optimism, the state is still not out of the tunnel. More than 56,000 Californians have been killed by the virus, while hundreds still die every day, to abandon state leaders through a balancing act to encourage the enthusiasm that will help the economy recover and to enforce limits to curb the virus.
And against the backdrop of new barriers and increasing case numbers in Europe, many public health advisers are urging states not to give up.
A return to (some kind) normal?
Since the summer, California has used a color-coded system to indicate the level of restrictions in each province, linked to the number of local cases – with purple being the most restrictive, followed by red, orange and yellow. Civil servants relaxed the rules this month, allowing dozens of provinces to progress faster to a lower level of restrictions.
As of last week, 42 of California’s 58 counties have qualified for the red level, which has facilitated nearly 90% of the state and thus enabled many non-essential businesses to operate indoors for the first time since August. Four provinces qualified for the orange level and 1 even made it yellow.
Laurie Thomas, executive director of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association, owns and operates two San Francisco restaurants that were severely affected by the pandemic. She says business owners are eagerly awaiting the return to near normal.
“We are very hopeful,” she says, adding that even after relying on personal loans to cover the payroll, she was forced to reduce her staff dramatically, but that she is one of the lucky ones. Friends with businesses in the once-busy financial district of San Francisco were left in a “ghost town” until office workers returned from remote work.
San Francisco, which is currently in the red level, is expected to move to the orange level next week, which means churches and movie theaters can fill 50% of their seats, bars can accommodate guests outside, and bowling alleys, gyms can with 25% capacity. Restaurants will move from 25% indoor seating to 50%, and retail stores will only be limited by social change so that there is at least 6 feet of space available between customers.
Thomas says her customers are increasingly eager to dine in, especially on days when the bay’s windy, cold breezes send chills through outdoor eateries. But she still supports the city’s more measured approach – which has even lagged behind the constraints of the state – as it means there is less chance the city will move into closure again.
“Every time you close, a small restaurant like mine can lose about $ 10,000,” she says, adding that up to 15% of restaurants cannot survive the closures and that they are gone forever. “A lot of people are excited about the point – but we have to go slow.”
Some California residents are less patient. Political pressure is mounting on the governor to give locals their own pace, and along with the recovery of California’s fight, Newsom is now fighting a recall effort encouraged by some residents’ frustration with California’s heavy-handed closures.
Much of the Central Valley, a conservative and rural region that stretches through central California, remains in the press level. Covid had a serious impact on farm workers in the area, who had higher transfer rates, and initial efforts to make vaccines more accessible began slowly.
But at Harris Ranch, a hotel and restaurant in Fresno County, overlooking Interstate-5, the restrictions did nothing to slow things down. Joaquin Juarez said the feeling of optimism across the country came to a halt at his roadside restaurant.
“We have seen a huge increase in business with the rest of the state opening up, to the point that we have to make people wait 30 or 40 minutes,” Juarez said. California still has travel restrictions and public health officials have urged people to stay home and avoid traveling more than 120 miles outside the city. But the rules are not applied. Juarez says 85% of its customers are drivers coming from the I-5.
The purple level means the restaurant is limited to outdoor dining, but the expansive white tent in the parking lot is furnished to be served 120, complete with spread-out chandeliers, high-backed chairs and Easter decor.
“I think people are getting bad now,” Juarez said, adding that the restaurant is making preparations for Easter to be the busiest day. Then he hopes the province will be eligible for the red level so that the business can welcome more people and offer some seating in their dining room. “Once we open up, I’m sure things will jump back in and we’ll be back to normal,” he said. “It’s just about opening the doors.”
‘Cautiously optimistic’, but there are still concerns
In addition to the reopening, California is vaccinating as many people as possible, especially the communities hardest hit by the virus. To date, more than 13 million doses have been administered in the state, but a recent report found that the state ranks among the worst in the country in terms of equitable distribution.
“Getting the balance right between trying to prevent disease and minimizing the negative effects of measures is very difficult,” said Dr. Arthur Reingold, Head of Epidemiology at the University of California, Berkeley, School. , said. of public health. Although he is concerned about a higher risk of hospitalization and deaths with fewer restrictions, “we are reaching higher levels of immunity daily in our communities in California,” he said.
With the increase in vaccination rates, California has dropped Covid cases by about 42% over the past two weeks.
“We are very optimistic – but cautiously optimistic,” said Dee Dee Myers, Newsom’s senior adviser, who was appointed head of the state’s office for business and economic development in December. “Everyone wants to do it safely and reopen as soon as possible without taking a setback or putting people in unsafe conditions.”
But there are still concerns that California is going to open too quickly, especially for those who will be at the forefront when businesses reopen. Yanira Revolorio, a Bay Area caretaker who works at a department store, said she could not be vaccinated yet and is still anxious about possible exposure to Covid at work.
“They need to make the vaccine much more accessible, and ensure that all essential workers are eligible,” the 24-year-old said in Spanish. She lives with her mother and avoids hugging her. “I’m always very worried about exposing her,” she said. “I think it’s too soon to reopen because not everyone is following the Covid precautions.”
Some health workers who were at the forefront in December and January during LA’s disastrous Covid boom also said they were concerned that many workers had not yet been vaccinated.
“We can not let the hats down, otherwise we will be at ground level again,” said Marcia Santini, a nurse at the University of California Medical Center, Los Angeles, who was hospitalized in December at Covid was. Looking at Italy’s return to the closure, she feared LA could see another spate of infections. “We can not be ignorant. I know how painful it is. We have come so far; we just have to stick it out until we have vaccinated the majority. ”
“It can be a tricky stitching,” said Myers, Newsom’s economic adviser, about efforts to remind residents of the risks while easing restrictions. She calls the situation in Europe and elsewhere around the world ‘disillusioning’, adding that California’s success will depend on convincing people to wear their masks, follow the sanitation protocols and continue with the testing and detection, even if matters fall.
“There’s a lot more to do and a fair amount of complexity,” she said. “We want to burn the road map. We want to burn the blueprint as soon as possible and never think about it again. But we are not there yet. ”