California eases strict virus lockdown measures

After weeks under lockdown, California eased its strict stay-at-home orders on Monday, as COVID-19 infection rates and hospitalizations in the state begin to slow.

Monday's announcement will lift some of the United States' strictest lockdown measures in Southern California, the San Francisco Bay Area, and the largely agricultural San Joaquin Valley.

That means restaurants in the affected areas can soon reopen for outdoor dining, while nail and hair salons can reopen so long as they mandate masks and some youth sporting events will be able to resume.

It's welcome relief for Oakland bar owner Cara Devereux:

"It's great. It's good. I want to remain optimistic and hopefully it's going to keep getting better. I hope we're not rushing into things and I hope everyone that is going to partake in outdoor dining is going to respect the rules and is going to do their best to ensure a safe environment for everyone."

California's latest lockdown measures were imposed in early December as the state became an epicenter in the U.S. COVID crisis, and hospital intensive care units hit maximum capacity.

Along with the improved outlook offered Monday, Governor Gavin Newsom announced California has tripled its pace of vaccinations, and hopes to give 1 million more shots over the next 10 days.

But Newsom warned residents to stay vigilant, and stressed that a nightly curfew will remain in place for most of the state.

California, the most populous U.S. state with some 40 million residents, has reported over 3 million COVID-19 cases and more than 36,000 deaths from the disease.