SACRAMENTO, California (AP) – California has paved the way for fans to get to the stands of first-day baseball games and return to Disneyland nearly a year after coronavirus restrictions had covered major entertainment venues.
On Friday, the state relaxed guidelines for reopening outdoor spaces as the fall and winter hike seemed to end, with COVID-19 infection rates, hospitalizations and deaths plummeting and vaccination rates.
New public health regulations would allow live concerts to reopen in stadiums and sports venues with limited attendance on April 1st. Amusement parks will also be allowed to reopen in counties that have fallen from the state’s violet level (the most restrictive) to the red level.
In all cases, the park’s capabilities will be limited and COVID-19 safety regulations, such as the requirements for the use of masks, will apply.
The move followed a week of milestones, with California increasing vaccinations for the poorest neighborhoods, counties that opened more businesses, and Gov. Gavin Newsom passed a measure aimed at encouraging schools that have restricted students to school. online learning to reopen classrooms this month.
“The constant openness is consistent with the data. As cases decrease, we want to go back to work and school, “said Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, a clinical professor of preventive medicine at the University of Southern California.” Outdoor activities, in particular, they’ve always been low risk. Opening up these places makes sense. “
The reopening may not come too soon for Kenny King Jr., a resident of Pleasant Hill, in the San Francisco Bay Area, who became Disneyland’s annual headline ten years ago. He usually takes his family to Southern California Park five times a year, but the last visit was just over a year ago for his birthday.
King, 38, lives in the city and said he’s excited to be back with his eight-year-old daughter, who had just started enjoying rides like Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Space Mountain, and taking her to the his 2-year-old son, fascinated. by the lights and sounds when he visited last year.
“That’s one thing we just did to our family: Disney trips,” King said. “Sometimes we’ll sit at home and be like, ‘Man, I just miss Disneyland.'”
They also applauded the thousands of workers laid off by Disneyland, Universal Studios Hollywood, Knott’s Berry Farm and other major venues. Ten thousand lost their jobs alone at Disneyland and its Orange County-related attractions, not to mention the effect affecting nearby restaurants and hotels.
Andrea Zinder, president of the local United Food and Commercial Workers Union representing Disney workers, said employees are “excited to get back to work and provide Californians with a little more magic in their lives.”
Most of the major theme parks are in Southern California, which is still in the purple category. However, the counties of Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego hoped to reopen in the coming weeks as their COVID-19 numbers drop.
Currently, only 16 of the 58 counties are at the red level and two small counties at the orange level. None is yet at the yellow level, the lowest and least restrictive.
Red level theme parks will be limited to 15% capacity.
Outdoor sports will be limited to 100 people at the purple level, but will increase to 67% at the yellow level.
The San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Angels and Oakland A announced they will have fans in the stands to open on the first day of April. The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants will begin their seasons on the road and said they would announce their plans later.
Teams and event organizers can only sell tickets regionally at the purple level. At all other levels, teams and organizers can sell tickets to anyone living in California. Concessions will not be accepted at the purple level, while in others, concession sales will only be available in the squares.
Richard Haick, of St. Paul, California, has already bought ticket vouchers for the return of Oakland A and hopes to bring his 10-year-old son to a party soon. His son plays Little League baseball and is very excited to attend the games.
“It’s nice to have, even with a reduced capacity, a certain sense of normalcy,” said Haick, a 45-year-old photographer.
The fastest rate of reopening is tied to a new plan to vaccinate California’s most vulnerable residents. When 2 million people in 400 postcodes in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods receive at least one dose of vaccine, it will be easier for counties to get out of the most restrictive level in the state. When 4 million people are vaccinated in these neighborhoods, the counties will be able to open up even more.
Everything puts California in a drastically different position from a year ago, when Gov. Gavin Newsom imposed the statewide home stay order that restricted travel, shut down businesses and forced millions of people into the state. ‘atur. California is still among the most severe restrictions in any state and continues to discourage out-of-state visitors.
The state is ending its hopes of a total reopening of inoculating enough of its 40 million residents to stop widespread COVID-19 infections.
The Department of Public Health said more than 10 million doses had been administered in just three months since the first shot was fired.
Just over 3 million people have been completely vaccinated, or about 10% of the population aged 16 and over.
There are hopeful signs. This week, the seven-day average rate of positive test results fell this week to 2.2%, a record low.
While pressure has been increasing to reopen the economy, health officials said the changes in guidelines were more prudent and measured than a wholesale approach.
“We will keep our foot on the brakes, not the gas, our eyes on the road, our hands on the wheel and we will navigate based on data and science,” said Dr. Mark Ghaly, Secretary of State for Health and Human Services Agency .
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Associated Press writer Janie Har in San Francisco contributed to this story.