When will Los Angeles reopen? County to stay shuttered most of summer, official says
Los Angeles County’s stay-at-home order will likely be extended through July, Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said during a Tuesday Board of Supervisors meeting, media outlets reported.
The county will be shut down “with all certainty” through July, Ferrer said, according to the Los Angeles Times. Ferrer said reopening will be slow due to the rising deaths and cases in the county.
Ferrer said the state could reopen only if there was “dramatic change to the virus and tools at hand,” the Los Angeles Times reported. “Our hope is that by using the data, we’d be able to slowly lift restrictions over the next three months,” she said.
Los Angeles’ stay-at-home order is in effect until May 15.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti clarified that Ferrer’s comments didn’t mean the stay-at-home order isn’t flexible, according to ABC7.
“When our county health officer Dr. Ferrer merely said that an order would stay in place for at least three more months, that doesn’t mean the order stays in place exactly as it is today,” Garcetti said on CNN, according to ABC7. ”It’s just a reminder of how delicate and fragile this time is, but do not freak out when you hear a scientist say that it’s still going to be here and we’re still going to be living under health orders.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a stay-at-home order on March 19, The Sacramento Bee reported, and set out his own guidelines to help decide when to reopen the state on April 14.
The six requirements: monitoring and tracking cases, increasing capacity at hospitals, preventing infection for “high-risk people,” ensuring distancing and therapeutics at businesses, schools and child care facilities, and developing guidelines for another stay-at-home order if virus cases increase again, the Bee reported.
Ferrer said reopening too quickly “could lead to more people dying,” Fox 11 Los Angeles reported. “It is still safer to remain at home, COVID-19 has not changed,” she said.
Los Angeles’ reopening may not follow the rest of the state, Ferrer said, according to Fox 11 Los Angeles. “Literally half the cases and half the deaths are happening in LA County right now,” Ferrer said.
Los Angeles County’s beaches are reopening Wednesday with restrictions, according to CBS Los Angeles.
People won’t be able to lie down for picnics or on blankets and the beach will be open only for “active use,” CBS Los Angeles reported. Social distancing and face masks will also be required, the outlet reported.
This story was originally published May 12, 2020 at 1:23 PM with the headline "When will Los Angeles reopen? County to stay shuttered most of summer, official says."