LOS ANGELES COUNTY—The Los Angeles County Board of Directors voted last week to reopen the county’s outdoor morgues and restaurant dining after California Governor Gavin Newsom ended the statewide stay-at-home orders that had been in place since late November. “While we are still in the state’s purple tier, we wholeheartedly believe this is the right move, and moreover an exciting opportunity for our local restaurants and residents to enjoy the outdoors,” said LA County Public Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer, gesturing to the more than ten 53-foot refrigerated mobile morgues sitting outside the Los Angeles County Coroner’s building. “Listen, we all have to make sacrifices during this time. With the number of new COVID deaths on the rise, we continue to urge multiple households to not congregate, while still supporting our local small businesses. We understand the community’s concern regarding the new highly transmissible LA-specific COVID variant, and to that I want to remind local restaurants to continue placing tables 8 feet apart.” At press time, the LA County Department of Public Health had announced a partnership with OpenTable to allow residents to reserve morgue slots in the coming weeks.