State Eases Restrictions On Breweries, Wineries; Bar Reopenings In Sight
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — State health officials Thursday issued rules allowing breweries and wineries that do not serve meals to reopen outdoors, while also setting a path for the reopening of bars.
Beginning this Saturday, breweries, wineries and distilleries that do not serve meals will be permitted to reopen outdoors in counties that are in the purple and red tiers of the state's monitoring system.
Under the updated rules, customers must have reservations and will be limited to 90 minutes. All alcoholic beverage consumption must be done by 8 p.m.
Counties in the less-restrictive "orange" tier can reopen indoors at 25% capacity, while those in the yellow tier can open indoor capacity to 50%.
Breweries, wineries and distilleries that serve food will continue to be under the same rules as restaurants.
The new state guidance also noted that bars can reopen outdoors with safety modifications once a county reaches the orange tier. Once in the yellow tier, bars can reopen indoors at 25% capacity.
The updated guidance is subject to approval by individual counties.
As of Thursday, Los Angeles and Orange counties were both still in the most-restrictive purple tier, but are expected to advance to the "red" tier by early next week.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)