Limited Reopenings, Other Closures in Effect
At last I have some good news to report. In these days of shutdowns, limited service, social distancing and mask wearing there is at least one bright spot on the horizon. Indoor malls will now be allowed to reopen. You can read the article posted by ABC 7 here.
For us in Sun Valley that means the Burbank Town Center will be allowed to let shoppers inside. Mall capacity will be limited to 25% but it’s unclear how this will be gauged. Does that mean guards will be stationed at every entrance and check off every visitor who enters the mall? I’m not sure what the capacity of the mall like the Burbank Town Center actually it is, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen it at full capacity. Perhaps during the Christmas shopping season—remember when we had those?—capacity was full, but not usually.
While indoor malls are allowed to open up, the food courts will remain closed. That means those of us who need to pick up a shirt or two at Macy’s have to bring our own lunch if we spend the afternoon there.
The other type of business that is allowed to reopen are card rooms of which there are a few in the greater Los Angeles area including the Hustler Casino in Gardena. Noticeably absent from this reopening list are gyms and fitness centers. The fact that malls and card rooms have been allowed to reopen is based on the decrease in the number of coronavirus cases recently in Los Angeles County. It would seem that if malls are allowed to reopen with limited capacity the gyms might be able to do the same, again with limited capacity or through some sort of reservation system to limit the amount of contact people have with others when working out.
In almost all instances of our shutdown in Sun Valley and throughout Southern California it appears as though the cure is worse than the disease. This is especially true with regard to fitness centers. On a personal note, and this is only Jose Mier speaking, I have not worked out since my gym closed in July and I can tell you that I do feel weaker, have less strength and while I have no way of knowing, perhaps my immune system is not as strong as it was when I was working out regularly.
Regardless, any opening of our businesses is positive. I celebrate the malls reopening and I look forward to other businesses reopening in the near future. If any of our elected officials read these posts, I beg of you to act quickly and responsibly and reopen our businesses before it’s too late.