Alameda County has moved into the orange tier, per the state’s color-coded system for COVID. This begins today, March 31, 2021. That means more activities will be allowed, more capacity for indoor dining, and starting April 1st, outdoor sports or live performances (the A’s will be opening their season with a live audience on the 1st).
Among the changes, according to the county’s press release:
- Family entertainment centers: Indoors for naturally distanced activities like bowling, escape rooms, and billiards; 25 percent maximum capacity
- Gyms, fitness centers and studios (including at hotels): 25 percent maximum capacity and indoor pools are permitted; Indoor hot tubs, saunas, and steam rooms continue to be closed
- Movie Theaters: 50 percent maximum capacity or 200 people, whichever is fewer
- Museums, Zoos and Aquariums: 50 percent maximum capacity
- Offices: Indoors with modifications and remote work (telework) is strongly encouraged
- Places of worship: 50 percent maximum capacity
- Restaurants: 50 percent maximum capacity or 200 people, whichever is fewer
- Retail: Open indoors with modifications and food courts permitted with indoor dining restrictions
Starting April 1, “outdoor sports and live performances with fans/attendees” and amusement parks will be allowed to open.
Though bars will be allowed to open indoors, some Oakland bars are opting to keep to outdoor drinking for now, according to a Berkeley NOSH article.
Alameda County Health Officer Dr. Nicholas Moss also cautions: “…While nearly a quarter of Alameda County residents aged 16 and older have been fully vaccinated, we aren’t at the levels required for broad community protection or immunity.”
Some Bay Area counties remain in red tier: Contra Costa, Napa, Sonoma, and Solano.
Momo Chang is a freelance journalist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is the Oakland Voices Co-Director. Her work focuses on healthcare, immigration, education, Asian American communities, food and culture. She is a former staff writer at the Oakland Tribune. Momo has received journalism awards from the Society of Professional Journalists for investigative reporting and the Asian American Journalists Association, among others. Her work has appeared in the East Bay Express, San Francisco Chronicle, Wired, and The New York Times. Momo is primarily a print journalist who also produces audio and visual stories for documentary film and radio. She is a Senior Contributing Editor for Hyphen and formerly the Content Manager at the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM).
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