Even with indoor dining returning in many parts of Southern California, officials are urging caution because of the ongoing COVID-19 risk.

Dr. Muntu Davis, the Los Angeles County health officer, cautioned that eating in a restaurant’s indoor dining room is still risky. If eating at a restaurant, dining outdoors remains safer, he said Friday.

“People are susceptible to this virus. There are variants that are circulating in our county,” Davis said. “Many of those can be more easily transmitted, and some may be causing more severe disease.”

The risk of dining indoors at restaurants is one reason why L.A. County is requiring that those eating together live in the same household. It is permissible, however, for people from up to three households to dine at the same table outdoors.

Read the full story on LATimes.com.