The state of California is adjusting its COVID-19 guidelines to pave the way for outdoor activities, like Major League Baseball and other live events, to resume with fans and capacity limits starting April 1, Dr. Mark Ghaly, California Health and Human Services secretary, said Friday. The shift will also allow big theme parks like Disneyland to reopen sooner than had been expected. The rules announced Friday coincide with baseball’s opening day. The San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Angels and Oakland Athletics all have home games scheduled for April 1.Earlier in the week, Gov. Gavin Newsom had foreshadowed the reopening of MLB games. Ghaly on Friday said the change is for not just outdoor baseball but also other live outdoor entertainment. For counties in the purple tier, venues can have 100 people or fewer. Capacity will be limited at 20% for counties in the red tier, with other modifications. Teams can sell tickets regionally in the purple tier and statewide in the other tiers. No concessions are allowed in the purple tier. In other tiers, concessions will be limited to in-seat purchases.Within the new blueprint, amusement parks will also be allowed to reopen when their county is in the red tier and at no more than 15% capacity. Amusements parks must also implement additional protections like no indoor dining in the parks, limits on indoor rides and only accepting visitors from inside California.Attendance limits at theme parks increase to 25% in the orange tier and 35% in the yellow tier. Indoor rides will be allowed because they are short and allow for proper spacing, health officials said Friday. “Because of a clear understanding of COVID-19 transmission, the role of fresh, circulating air and how it belongs to aerosolization of COVID and significantly reduces the likelihood of transmission, especially broad transmission, coupled to the evidence that masks and physical distancing buttress the protection of the outdoors, California is adjusting certain sectors in the blueprint to reflect this science,” Ghaly said.Although amusements parks may soon reopen in some counties, Ghaly said Californians should still remember the statewide travel advisory saying residents should not travel more than 120 miles from their homes. Before Friday’s announcement, amusement parks could only reopen in the yellow, or minimal, tier, where park capacity was limited 25%. Friday’s announcement only pertains to outdoor activities. Attendance for indoor events, including NBA games and concerts, are still prohibited. Coming up with rules for indoor events is “much more difficult,” said Dee Dee Myers, senior advisor to the governor and director of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development.”We will continue to work on that we’ll come back over the next couple of weeks and try to update this so that we can provide more visibility and a path forward for more businesses,” Myers said.— The Associated Press contributed reporting.
The state of California is adjusting its COVID-19 guidelines to pave the way for outdoor activities, like Major League Baseball and other live events, to resume with fans and capacity limits starting April 1, Dr. Mark Ghaly, California Health and Human Services secretary, said Friday. The shift will also allow big theme parks like Disneyland to reopen sooner than had been expected.
The rules announced Friday coincide with baseball’s opening day. The San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Angels and Oakland Athletics all have home games scheduled for April 1.
Earlier in the week, Gov. Gavin Newsom had foreshadowed the reopening of MLB games. Ghaly on Friday said the change is for not just outdoor baseball but also other live outdoor entertainment. For counties in the purple tier, venues can have 100 people or fewer. Capacity will be limited at 20% for counties in the red tier, with other modifications.
Teams can sell tickets regionally in the purple tier and statewide in the other tiers. No concessions are allowed in the purple tier. In other tiers, concessions will be limited to in-seat purchases.
Within the new blueprint, amusement parks will also be allowed to reopen when their county is in the red tier and at no more than 15% capacity.
Amusements parks must also implement additional protections like no indoor dining in the parks, limits on indoor rides and only accepting visitors from inside California.
Attendance limits at theme parks increase to 25% in the orange tier and 35% in the yellow tier. Indoor rides will be allowed because they are short and allow for proper spacing, health officials said Friday.
“Because of a clear understanding of COVID-19 transmission, the role of fresh, circulating air and how it belongs to aerosolization of COVID and significantly reduces the likelihood of transmission, especially broad transmission, coupled to the evidence that masks and physical distancing buttress the protection of the outdoors, California is adjusting certain sectors in the blueprint to reflect this science,” Ghaly said.
Although amusements parks may soon reopen in some counties, Ghaly said Californians should still remember the statewide travel advisory saying residents should not travel more than 120 miles from their homes.
Before Friday’s announcement, amusement parks could only reopen in the yellow, or minimal, tier, where park capacity was limited 25%.
Friday’s announcement only pertains to outdoor activities. Attendance for indoor events, including NBA games and concerts, are still prohibited. Coming up with rules for indoor events is “much more difficult,” said Dee Dee Myers, senior advisor to the governor and director of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development.
“We will continue to work on that we’ll come back over the next couple of weeks and try to update this so that we can provide more visibility and a path forward for more businesses,” Myers said.
— The Associated Press contributed reporting.
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