California marks reopening with jackpots, Hollywood aptitude – KIRO 7 Information Seattle

SAN FRANCISCO – (AP) – Welcome back, California.

San Francisco announced the return of its legendary cable cars. Disneyland opened its doors to foreign tourists. And Governor Gavin Newsom celebrated the day with Hollywood flair, visiting Universal Studios to celebrate the lifting of most COVID-19 restrictions and the “full reopening” of the Golden State’s economy on Tuesday.

“California turned the tide. Let’s all celebrate this remarkable milestone,” said a boisterous and maskless Newsom from an outdoor stage at Universal Studios Hollywood, where he was hosting a game show selection of 10 residents, US 1.5 million each – Received dollars just to get vaccinated. “Today is a day to reconnect with strangers, loved ones, and family members. Hug the people.”

Life-size Minions, Avengers, and other movie mascots danced and cheered during the festivities to celebrate what Newsom called a new day for California. President Joe Biden called for nationwide July 4th celebrations Tuesday to mark the country’s effective return to normal.

At midnight, California lifted most of its pandemic restrictions, meaning there are no more state regulations on physical distancing or capacity restrictions in restaurants, bars, supermarkets, gyms, museums, amusement parks, stadiums, or anywhere else. In most settings, masks are no longer required for vaccinated individuals, although businesses and counties can still require them and other restrictions.

The Democratic governor cited the more than 40 million doses of vaccine administered – to more than 70% of the state’s adults – and the resulting drop in cases as the reason for the reopening. California currently has one of the lowest infection rates in the country, below 1%.

Reopening doesn’t necessarily mean people immediately flock to places and events that once grabbed them, or that companies choose to go back to their full capacity.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced that the city’s landmarks will be back on stream in August after being shut down at the start of the pandemic. Across from the Fisherman’s Wharf cable car stop at Café Buena Vista, manager Larry Silva said he wished they’d start again earlier, “but we’ll get that.”

Famous for its Irish coffee, the cafe gets most of its business from tourists who ride the iconic trolleys that pull up outside. It reopened its bar on Tuesday for the first time in 15 months. In the pre-pandemic period, the bar was selling 2,000 Irish coffees a day, Silva said.

“I’m looking forward to a really strong summer and seeing more out-of-town tourists,” he said.

Tourism was one of the hardest hit industries during the pandemic, and companies want to make up for lost time.

Disneyland welcomed visitors from other states on Tuesday for the first time since it closed in March 2020. It was closed for months until it opened only to California residents that spring.

The famous park also drops many of its other restrictions, such as temperature controls and face covers for vaccinated guests.

Among the many maskless people at Disneyland was Dominique Vazquez, who visited the park on day 2 and liked the variety.

“The no mask, it’s great. It’s great, “said Vazquez.” It was very hard yesterday to run in the park with the mask on. You’re sweating. You can’t breathe. “

At a bagel shop in Huntington Beach, customers flocked in and out for breakfast Tuesday – most of them still wore masks – while staff distributed juice and bagels behind a plastic partition.

“I think I’ll wait and see how it goes,” said Anna Yam, 39, who wore a face covering while pushing her young son into a stroller. For now, she has no plans to change her routine: she will be wearing masks indoors even though she had the syringe.

Gyms took different approaches. In Sacramento, Midtown Fitness & Boxing dropped its mask mandate Tuesday, but the few guests inside were still holding their masks or around their chins.

“I only tip my toes,” said Judy Bratman, 65, who was visiting from Los Angeles as she watched her grown daughter practice in a boxing ring. “I’m glad the economy is coming back. All of that is good. I’m just a little careful. “

At Urban Fitness Oakland, they check vaccination records.

“If you want to train indoors without a mask, that’s great. We just ask to see the map, “said owner Noah Kinner.

Newsom has warned the virus has not completely gone and the reopening craze should be dampened with vigilance.

More people tested positive for the virus in California (3.8 million and more) and more people died (63,000 plus) than anywhere else in the country, even though the most populous state in the country had a lower per capita death rate than most.

Newsom urged more people to get vaccinated and honored some lucky Californians who got vaccinated in the grand finale of the nation’s largest vaccination incentive program. The 10 winners of a $ 15 million jackpot on Tuesday were the last to be selected in a 116 million COVID-19 lottery that also distributed $ 50,000 to 30 winners and many 50 gift cards.

Before announcing the winners, Newsom called intensive care nurse Helen Cordova, who was the first to receive the vaccine in California in mid-December.

“I’m so emotional, excited, and hopeful,” said Cordova as the giant globe of Universal Studios spun behind her. “Looking back now and seeing where we have been, it’s a little scary, but also encouraging and exciting to see how far we’ve come.”

With pandemic ups and downs, California went from being a success story to being the US epicenter of the virus. California companies were only just beginning to reopen last June when cases increased and restrictions were again imposed.

At the end of summer, California was heading for a deadly winter wave.

“We’ve seen a lot more death than we’d ever like to see. We were holding far too many hands because the families weren’t able to, ”Cordova said.

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Associate press writers John Antczak in Los Angeles, Amy Taxin in Orange County, Olga R. Rodriguez in San Francisco, and Kathleen Ronayne in Sacramento contributed to this report.

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