Los Angeles County on Friday received permission from the state to reopen restaurants for in-person dining, and resume services at barbershops and hair salons, marking a new phase in the region’s efforts to restart the devastated retail economy.
The move comes even though the county remains the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in California, with more than 2,200 deaths. More than half of all COVID-19 fatalities in the state have been in L.A. County, which has been slower to reopen than areas less hard-hit by the outbreak. The total number of confirmed infections in L.A. County is more than 50,000.