Los Angeles County Moves Into Stage 3 and Issues Modified Public Health Order Allowing Additional Businesses to Reopen Immediately

06.12.2020

The Los Angeles County Health Office issued a further modified Public Health Order effective today, June 12, 2020, allowing several additional categories of businesses to reopen and moving the County into Stage 3 of California’s Pandemic Resilience Roadmap.

As Los Angeles County moves into Stage 3, effective today, June 12, 2020, the following additional businesses and facilities may reopen, provided they continue to facilitate social distancing and follow industry-specific guidelines:

Gyms and fitness facilities;
Professional sports teams and arenas without live audiences or spectators;
Music, film, and television production;
Hotels, lodging and short-term rentals for tourism and individual leisure travel;
Museums, galleries, botanical gardens, zoos, aquariums, and other similar exhibition spaces;
Day camps;
Campgrounds, RV parks, and associated outdoor recreation;
Swimming pools and splash pads; and
For-hire fishing, guided fishing, and small-group chartered boat trips.

The modified Order aligns Los Angeles County with the phased reopening approach of the State’s “California’s Pandemic Resilience Roadmap.” The modified Order also warns, however, that if the “local COVID-19 conditions warrant,” the County may “issue orders that are more restrictive than the guidance and orders issued by the State Public Health Officer.”

As with the businesses permitted to reopen during Stage 2, the additional businesses identified above that are now permitted to reopen as the County enters Stage 3 must likewise prepare, implement, and post industry-specific protocols for ensuring employee health, safety, social distancing, and infection control.

The protocol for gyms and fitness facilities can be found here, and is also attached to the modified Order as Appendix L.

The protocol for professional sports teams and facilities without spectators can be found here, and is also attached to the modified Order as Appendix N.

The required protocol for music, film, and television production can be found here, and is also attached to the modified Order as Appendix J.

The protocol for hotels, lodging, and short-term rentals can be found here, and is also attached to the modified Order as Appendix P.

The protocol for museums, galleries, zoos, and aquariums can be found here, and is also attached to the modified Order as Appendix M.

The protocol for day camps can be found here, and is also attached to the modified Order as Appendix K.

The protocol for campgrounds, RV parks, and cabin rental units can be found here, and is also attached to the modified Order as Appendix O.

The protocol for swimming pools and splash pads can be found here.

The modified Order also now specifies that piers may be open at the County’s beaches, and the County protocol for beaches has been revised to now allow chairs, canopies, and coolers on the beach.

The modified Order still requires various types of businesses that the Order deems “higher-risk businesses . . . where more frequent and prolonged person-to-person contacts are likely to occur” to remain closed, including:

Bars, winery and brewery tasting rooms, lounges, and nightclubs;
Cardrooms, satellite wagering facilities, and racetrack onsite wagering facilities;
Public entertainment venues, including movie theaters, live performance theatres, and concert venues, theme parks, and festivals;
Family entertainment centers such as bowling alleys, arcades, miniature golf, and batting cages;
Personal care establishments currently required by the State to remain closed, including nail salons, body waxing, massage and body art establishments;
Indoor and outdoor playgrounds for children (except if located within a school or childcare center);
Hot tubs, steam rooms and saunas not located on a residential property; and
All events and gatherings, unless specifically allowed by the Order.

The modified Order continues to require all persons to practice Social Distancing at all times and to wear a cloth face covering when in contact with others who are not from the same household.

The modified Order does not apply to the cities of Pasadena or Long Beach, each of which has its own public health officer. However, the cities of Pasadena and Long Beach issued similar modified orders on June 11 on June 12, respectively, which likewise allow the foregoing businesses to reopen as those cities also move into Stage 3. The modified Pasadena order is available here, and the modified Long Beach order is available here. Each of the Pasadena and Long Beach modified orders also has specific protocols the reopened businesses must follow in their respective jurisdictions.

If you have any questions about whether and how your business may re-open, contact the author or your regular counsel at AALRR.