L.A. County's stay-at-home restrictions will most likely be gradually reduced over the next three months unless there is some major change in the fight against COVID-19, the county's public health director said today.
During Tuesday's meeting of the L.A. County's Board of Supervisors, Dr. Barbara Ferrer said the stay-at-home order will likely remain in place through August.
The countywide public health order, which went into effect on March 16, closed businesses and asked residents to remain at home as much as possible, while practicing social distancing and wearing face masks. The order was set to expire on Friday.
However, an updated order is likely to be announced during the county's daily coronavirus briefing on Wednesday, Ferrer said.
“I do think recovery will be months-long based on the tools we have at hand today,'' Ferrer said.
"Relaxing the restrictions in the 'Safer At Home' order is an important focus for the county, which will be done gradually over the next few months,'' County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said. "I am eager to reopen more of L.A. County as soon as it's safe to do so, in collaboration with our health experts, community leaders, businesses and residents, with best practices in place to ensure our overall health and well-being. These decisions will be guided by the latest science and data collected. I'm confident that the more our communities continue to comply, the sooner we can resume normalcy.''
The county has already eased certain restrictions on the stay-at-home orders. Last week, hiking trails and golf courses were allowed to reopen as were some low-risk retail businesses such as toy stores, sporting goods stores, clothing stores, music shops and florists, which were allowed to open for curbside pickup.
During his daily COVID-19 update, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the state would further loosen its statewide stay-at-home order and would begin allowing individual counties the authority on when shopping malls, strip malls, and outlet malls can reopen for curbside pickup. The state's modified order also allows the reopening of some offices, if workers are unable to work remotely.
Other businesses, such as car washes and pet groomers, were also given new guidelines on when and how they could possibly reopen.
Also on Tuesday, L.A. County health officials reported another 45 deaths due to the coronavirus, bringing the county's death toll to 1,613. Another 961 cases were also confirmed by the health department, bringing the countywide total to 33,180.
“Later this week, we will be issuing a new Health Officer Order that continues to lay out directives that need to be followed as we continue on our recovery journey," Dr. Ferrer said Tuesday. "Our journey will be slow and we will be looking closely at key indicators to make sure we are continuing to slow the spread of COVID-19. Thank you so much for working together and doing your part. Your actions have been working and saving lives."
The number of confirmed cases around Southern California include:
- Los Angeles County: 33,180 cases - 1,613 deaths
- Orange County: 3,602 cases - 77 deaths
- Riverside County: 5,189 cases - 217 deaths
- Ventura County: 678 cases - 19 deaths
- San Bernardino County: 3,015 cases - 115 deaths
- San Diego County: 5,065 cases - 175 deaths
Statewide, there are more than 68,064 cases with at least 2,719 deaths reported. According to data collected by Johns Hopkins University, there are more than 1,358,000 cases nationwide with the death toll reaching 81,650 by Tuesday afternoon.
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