California celebrates its grand reopening in wake of COVID-19 pandemic

California has reopened.

As of Tuesday morning, coronavirus-related capacity restrictions and physical distancing requirements have been lifted at almost all businesses and other institutions. Californians who are fully vaccinated for COVID-19 can now go without face masks in most nonwork situations.

The day comes after 15 months of fear, frustration, upheaval and misery and is made possible through the one-two punch of collective sacrifice and scientific achievement — but only after the pandemic left a deep scar on the state’s collective psyche.

For tens of millions of Californians and countless businesses, the reopening signals new hope of brighter days as the shadow cast by COVID-19 shrinks.

While Tuesday may eventually take root in the wider public consciousness as the day California declared victory over the coronavirus, the toll the battle exacted remains staggering.

More than 3.77 million Californians — greater than the entire population of San Diego County — have tested positive for the virus at some point. And nearly 63,000 people, roughly equivalent to the population of the city of Encinitas, have died from COVID-19 statewide.

Still, the excitement was palpable Tuesday as residents enjoyed their first day of near-normal life in more than a year.

Najee Ali, 58, sat in a booth at Langer’s Deli, slathering a stack of pancakes with butter and syrup.

He has been coming to the iconic Los Angeles diner for more than three decades and was one of the first customers there when the restaurant reopened Tuesday morning for in-person dining after more than a year of offering only delivery and takeout.

“It’s one of the best days of my life because I, along with many others, experienced the worst global health crisis of our lifetime,” Ali said. “So this is something that we will never forget that we experienced.”

Owners Norm and Jeanette Langer celebrated by cutting a large red ribbon about 8 a.m. They stood in front of the deli with L.A. City Atty. Mike Feuer and LAPD Chief Michel Moore while a crowd of employees and customers gathered around.

“It’s a great day for Los Angeles, a great day for California,” Feuer said as the crowd applauded.

After the ribbon was cut, Langer’s hummed with activity: employees slicing pastrami, customers placing their favorite orders.

The center of attention was Norm Langer, 76, who hurried throughout the deli to chat with employees and greet customers.

When the deli closed to in-person dining 469 days ago, Langer was forced to lay off all of his servers.

“We had no idea whether we were going to be closed a week, a month, a year or never reopened,” he said. “It’s been an emotional roller coaster.”

In the wake of the pandemic, Langer said it’s time to establish a “new normal,” though he’s not sure what that will look like.

Jeanette Langer said it would take time before all their old customers returned.

“I think people are going to be more cautious,” she said.

Jaime Castaneda, 60, was hand slicing pastrami behind the counter. It was a “sad moment” when the deli closed a year ago, “something we never encountered before,” he said.

He pointed at the other workers around him. Many of them have been here for 10, 20, 30 years, he said.

“It’s a big day for California,” he said. Still, “we cannot let down our guard yet”

In Long Beach, Christopher Hudak read the new sign taped outside Coffee Drunk’s exterior, saying: “Your safety is important to us. Masks are recommended.”

The 24-year-old kept his on as he walked inside and ordered his usual iced coffee.

Despite the new state rules that drop mask requirements for vaccinated customers in most situations, Hudak said he didn’t plan to leave his face covering behind anytime soon.

“I’m still used to it,” he said. “Right now, it’s mainly a habit.”

Inside the coffee shop, barista Jessica Lopez, 28, said, “It’s nice to see pretty faces.”

Most of the morning’s clients entered wearing face masks. One woman walked in slowly, asking whether it was OK if she didn’t wear hers. Lopez told her it was fine and helped take her order.

California has made tremendous strides in beating back the worst COVID-19 had to offer.

Over the past week, the state has reported 896 new coronavirus cases per day — down 40% from just two weeks ago amid a continuing decline, according to data compiled by The Times. On Monday, fewer than 1,000 coronavirus-positive patients were receiving care in the state’s hospitals.

Case rates and hospitalization numbers haven’t been this low since last spring, when the early embers of the pandemic were starting to flare up.

The progress is especially stark when compared with the darkest days of the state’s fall-and-winter surge, when an average of 45,000 new infections were being confirmed daily, and hospitals were pushed dangerously close to their breaking points by a crush of daily COVID-19 patients that peaked at nearly 22,000.

While Tuesday will bring a wide return to normal, some restrictions will remain in place.

Though fully vaccinated people are no longer required by the state to wear masks in most settings — such as stores, restaurants, gyms, movie theaters and family entertainment centers — unvaccinated people are still largely required to mask up indoors while in public.

Later this week, the state’s Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board is expected to vote on a proposal that would also allow fully vaccinated workers to remove their masks in the workplace and for physical distancing requirements to be rescinded.

All Californians, regardless of vaccination status, will still need to don face coverings while at transit hubs or aboard public transportation; in healthcare settings and long-term care facilities; indoors at K-12 schools, child care facilities or other youth settings; in homeless shelters, emergency shelters and cooling centers; and in correctional facilities and detention centers.

A person is considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving a second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines, or two weeks after getting the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Additional requirements also remain in place for large indoor and outdoor events — such as conventions, theme parks, concerts or sporting events.

Organizers of indoor events with more than 5,000 people will be required to verify that attendees are either fully vaccinated or have tested negative within 72 hours of the event’s start time.

The same will be recommended, though not required, for organizers of outdoor events with more than 10,000 attendees. In those instances, venues will have the option of allowing unvaccinated and untested attendees, provided those people wear a mask at all times.