California, meet Phase 3: Stage set for bars, gyms, hotels, production studio reopenings

California has set June 12 as the date to reopen a broader range of businesses, which will include bars, gyms and professional sports. It has also set guidance for the battered hotel industry and for resuming music, film and television production, according to the Associated Press.

After months of statewide stay-at-thome orders that have given way to a gradual loosening, the stage is set for Phase 3, in which more businesses will open with a set of safety guidelines and precautions meant to mitigate the spread of coronavirus, the AP reported. The new guidelines were released for counties on Friday, and included the schedule for the fall school year.

The recent wave of protests for racial justice after the killing of George Floyd, and sporadic vandalism and looting damaged numerous stores in L.A., setting back many business owners who had been preparing to reopen. Most counties have been allowed to reopen restaurants and hair salons and other retail locations with reduced capacities.

In late April, Gov. Gavin Newsom outlined the state’s four-phase plan to reopening the economy. Around that time, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti released a revised “Safer at Home” order allowing for in-person home showings by appointment if there were no more than two visitors at a time. Before that, potential buyers could only see homes via virtual tours because of the pandemic restrictions.

Under Newsom’s roadmap, counties are allowed to open businesses based on a number of coronavirus health metrics, including infection rates and deaths. Nearly all of the state’s 58 counties have met requirements to enter Phase 3, although Johns Hopkins recently found that confirmed cases are on the rise in California and several other states, the Wall Street Journal reported last week.

While construction never stopped in L.A., safety measures were enforced because of the virus. [AP] — Dennis Lynch