SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - San Diego County’s move into the red tier falls around the time when spring break visitors usually come to the area. While 2021’s recent move into the red tier means businesses can transition some people inside, health officials warn that people still need to be cautious, especially during spring break.
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The TSA recently reported multiple days in a row when more than one million people nationally, which is the most screenings since the pandemic began.
The CDC said for people vaccinated, traveling is still not endorsed, even though people who are vaccinated are less likely to become seriously ill. The CDC doesn't have enough data yet to know if they can transmit the virus to others. Also, in the past year, there have been case surges immediately after travel surges.
The hotel industry in San Diego is starting to recover. With the ability to open some indoor dining and indoor gyms, hotels are able to hire back more staff and increase their bookings.
Foot traffic has increased in recent days in beach towns. Skyler McManus is the manager of Homel’s in Mission Beach and said since moving into the red tier, he’s seen a major improvement to his business.
“Given this last weekend. It’s up. It’s almost at the same numbers as far as sales is concerned,” said McManus.
Steps back to normal are welcome for tourism industries, as SANDAG reporter visitor spending dropped $6 billion from 2019 to 2020, and 90% of job losses in the region came from tourism, education and retail.
RELATED: Pandemic hits San Diego tourism with $6 billion loss in visitor spending
McManus said he knows reopening needs to be done in a safe way, and said at this point, most of his customers know and follow the rules. These steps toward normal are progress for him.
“I’s almost a mirror image of what it was before and it’s really this week that as things are lightening up, people are starting to creep out a little bit. And that’s what we want, we want the economy to be back, we want things to get back to normal safely.”