Indoor Operations Resume at Businesses in the Palisades

By LILY TINOCO | Reporter

Nearly one year after COVID-19 restrictions first went into place, indoor operations at businesses like gyms, movie theaters and restaurants are now permitted to reopen across Pacific Palisades as Los Angeles County moved out of the state’s most-restrictive purple tier and into red.

LA County was approved to move to the red tier Monday, March 15, after the state met the threshold of administering two million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to qualifying communities.

The move has allowed the county to reopen gyms, museums, movie theaters, indoor dining at restaurants and more with required safety measures in place, including the use of masks and distancing.

Palisades eateries, including Modo Mio, Hank’s and CinqueTerre WEST Osteria, have recently reopened their doors for limited indoor dining. All restaurants have reported that they will operate at 25% indoor capacity and tables will be spaced eight feet apart, per LA County Department of Public Health guidelines. Reservations are not required but encouraged.

“We have been so grateful for the support of the community over the past few months,” Hank’s General Manager Bryan Kaplan said to the Palisadian-Post. “We are thrilled to reopen our dining room, bring back our delicious weekend brunch menu and welcome all of our neighbors back.”

The Palisades-Malibu YMCA is preparing to reopen its doors on Monday, April 5, according to the organization’s website.

Members will have their temperature taken and asked wellness questions upon entry, the facility will also be limited to 10% capacity. Masks will be required at all times, and equipment will be placed further apart to allow for physical distancing.

Executive Director Jim Kirtley said the Y will be utilizing a mobile app for individuals to reserve a workout time.

“It will be so good to see familiar faces and talk to members again in person,” Kirtley said. “As we are able to increase our building capacity, we are hopeful that it will allow us to be more flexible with our services.”

Bay Theatre by Cinépolis Luxury Cinemas did not have a reopening date in place as the Post went to print.

“We are excited to reopen Cinépolis Pacific Palisades; however, we are still waiting on a definitive timeline centered around the ability to operate at occupancy levels above 25%,” a representative explained. “The safety of our team and guests is our top priority as we reopen.”

According to Public Health, the county must remain in the red tier for three consecutive weeks, the daily case rate must be at or below 3.9 new cases per 100,000 people and the county’s positivity rate must be at or below 4.9% for two consecutive weeks to qualify for the subsequent orange tier.

“If we continue to experience declines in the case rate, it is possible in early April for the county to move into the orange tier,” according to Public Health.

As the Post went to print Tuesday, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 had reached 1,215,129 across the county when factoring in Long Beach and Pasadena, with 22,871 deaths.

Pacific Palisades had reached 796 confirmed cases and 17 deaths Tuesday, with an additional 146 in Palisades Highlands and one death.