After months of crippling COVID-19 closures, Los Angeles County on Monday unlocked a significant portion of its battered business sector, allowing the return of in-restaurant dining and the resumption of indoor activities at gyms, movie theaters and elsewhere.

Proprietors and employees alike hope the latest round of reopenings — prompted by falling numbers of new coronavirus cases and rising vaccinations — will give the region’s economy a desperately needed shot in the arm.

But business as usual remains a far-off concept for now, and those establishments that are open are still subject to restrictions on how many customers they can serve at any one time, as well as requirements for physical distancing and face coverings.

L.A.’s wider reopening was made possible by its advancement from the purple tier, the strictest category in the state’s four-level coronavirus roadmap, to the more lenient red tier.

Read the full story at LATimes.com.