COVID-19 restrictions eased on San Mateo County restaurants, gyms

SAN MATEO COUNTY, Calif. (KGO) -- Basecamp fitness in Burlingame welcomed more people inside Wednesday morning now that San Mateo County has moved to the orange tier of the state's re-opening plan. Instead of only being allowed to have 9 people inside, the gym could welcome in 23 people. A huge difference for the gym's bottom line, and for clients who want to work out with others.

"Oh, I am really excited about it! I am really happy that we've upgraded. It means we will be able to have more people in the studio," said Courtney Gee as she headed into a high-intensity interval training class.

Gyms in San Mateo County can now fill up to 25% of their capacity. Before, they could only host 10%. Basecamp was not making money at only 10%, while classes had long waitlists.

"You had to be the early bird and get in on the class as soon as enrollment opened," said Gee.

Restaurants can now double the number of people allowed inside, going from 25% to 50% capacity. Stacks restaurant in Burlingame usually has a wait list on the weekends. The manager says opening up more tables will make a huge difference.

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"Oh! Definitely! We need that! (Laughs) That's awesome! That's unbelievable! That's good! That means we are doing things in the right way, so we're doing what we need to do," said Assistant Manager Sugei Arevalo.

County officials say residents ARE doing things the right way, and encourage people to keep wearing masks and staying 6 feet apart.

Residents we talked to say they feel comfortable moving to this next level of re-opening.

"I think it's time, I do. I think it's been done responsibly, in a measured way. I think it's hard for these restaurants to operate if they don't have additional capacity inside," said Jim Meyers, as he ate his breakfast at Stacks.

The next level of re-opening is the state's yellow tier. Orange tier indicates a moderate rate of spread of the virus, yellow is minimal.

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