New COVID-19 rules limit indoor facilities in O.C., Ventura

New COVID-19 rules limit indoor dining, gyms, churches in O.C., Ventura County and beyond

New COVID-19 rules mean indoor malls such as South Coast Plaza must reduce their capacity to 25%.

Nov. 16, 2020 2:02 PM PT

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s decision Monday to apply the “emergency brake” amid a surge in coronavirus cases will mean major changes in some Southern California counties — notably Ventura and Orange.

Here is what we know:

What areas are affected?

The result of the actions taken Monday shift Orange, Ventura, Kern, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties from the second-most restrictive red tier into the most restrictive purple tier.

That means indoor dining at restaurants and indoor gyms must shut down and move to outdoor operations, and houses of worship holding services indoors must revert to virtual or outdoor services.

What specifically will change in these counties?

• Indoor dining rooms at restaurants must close, although restaurants can offer delivery and takeout service.
• Indoor gyms, dance and yoga studios must now operate outdoors only.
• Movie theaters can no longer operate indoors.
• Houses of worship can no longer hold in-person indoor services but can host in-person services outdoors.
• Wedding ceremonies and funerals must occur outdoors only. Wedding receptions are currently banned statewide.
• Non-grocer retail stores, indoor malls and libraries are now open to 25% capacity instead of 50% capacity; grocery store capacity remains the same and remains open at 50%.
• Museums, zoos and aquariums must close indoor operations and can open only outdoors.

What about the rest of Southern California?

Los Angeles, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino and Imperial counties were already in the most restrictive purple tier, so there is no immediate change in those areas.

But L.A. County officials have been talking about new restrictions amid rising cases, including a curfew and limiting the head count at some businesses.

What is the big picture?

Once the changes go into effect Tuesday, roughly 94% of Californians will live in counties placed in the strictest purple category of the state’s reopening roadmap. Many businesses in those counties will have to suspend or severely limit their indoor operations.

Over the seven-day period ending Sunday, the state averaged 7,985 cases per day, up 89.7% from just two weeks ago, according to The Times’ coronavirus tracker.

The rolling metric hasn’t been this high since mid-August, and it is a far cry from just a month ago, when the seven-day average of new cases dipped below 3,000.

Counties in the purple tier (ranked by population):

Los Angeles
San Diego
Orange
Riverside
San Bernardino
Santa Clara
Alameda
Sacramento
Contra Costa
Fresno
Kern
Ventura
San Joaquin
Stanislaus
Sonoma
Tulare
Santa Barbara
Solano
Monterey
Placer
San Luis Obispo
Santa Cruz
Merced
Butte
Yolo
El Dorado
Imperial
Shasta
Madera
Kings
Napa
Nevada
Sutter
Mendocino
Yuba
Tehama
San Benito
Tuolumne
Siskiyou
Glenn
Trinity

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Rong-Gong Lin II

Rong-Gong Lin II is a Metro reporter based in San Francisco who specializes in covering statewide earthquake safety issues and the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bay Area native is a graduate of UC Berkeley and started at the Los Angeles Times in 2004.

Luke Money

Luke Money is an assistant editor on the Fast Break Desk, the Los Angeles Times’ breaking news team. He joined the newsroom as a reporter in 2020, specializing in breaking news and coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic. He previously was a reporter and assistant city editor for the Daily Pilot and before that covered education, politics and government for the Santa Clarita Valley Signal. He earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Arizona.