Starting next month, California will begin the reopening process. Planned to open are movie theaters, indoor restaurants, and gyms.  Children may also attend school in person as well. Many youth and high school sports teams are already practicing. 

California uses a four color tier system ( from highest to lowest: purple, red, orange, yellow) showing the severity of COVID infection rates in each county. According to NBC Los Angeles, most of California is still in the purple tier. Despite this, some Northern California areas, such as San Francisco and Humboldt counties, have dropped to red tier. Sierra and Alpine counties are in orange. 

An infectious disease expert, Dr. Monica Gandhi, encourages reopening. She said, “We have to open the economy — the collateral damage from lockdowns is staggering.” She added, “You can argue that California never should have restricted anything outside during these times when they were closing down parks and grounds and all that.”

State officials still warn citizens to be cautious despite the changing situation. Governor Gavin Newsom still encourages citizens to double mask and socially distance. ABC 7 reported gatherings without mask or social distancing should be attended only if all people are fully vaccinated.