L.A. County officials today announced that some of the county's health order restrictions would be loosened somewhat.
Now, all retailers in the county besides those located inside indoor shopping centers or malls -- are allowed to reopen their doors for doorside, curbside pickup, or delivery service. Other types of manufacturers that supply goods to businesses are also now permitted to reopen. Recreational facilities such as tennis and pickleball courts, shooting and archery ranges, equestrian centers, model airplane centers, community gardens and bike parks will be allowed to be reopened as well.
Dr. Barbara Ferrer, the county's Director of Public Health, stressed that while more businesses are being allowed to open, getting back to a full recovery “will be a slow journey.”
“In the last few weeks, we've worked together to slow the spread of COVID-19, and this will now be our new foreseeable normal in the future,” she said. `Everywhere we go, we will be taking protections. ... This is because COVID-19 as a virus is still relatively easy to transmit, and it can cause, as I've noted, serious illness and death. That means that as much as possible, when you can, you ought to stay home. You ought to continue to adhere to the Safer At Home recommendations, stay with your households, there are no events or gatherings that are allowed. We ask that you help us make sure that as we are on our recovery journey, we take our steps together in a way that protects each other.”
The county's safer-at-home orders have been slowly loosened over the last week as new orders replace one that was set to expire on Friday. The new order continues to urge people to stay home as much as possible, engage in social distancing, and wear face coverings while out in public. That order has no expiration date - meaning it could be in place for some time.
Also today, Dr. Ferrer reported another 47 new deaths due to the coronavirus Wednesday, bringing the county's death toll to 1,659 fatalities. Dr. Ferrer noted that this time last month, the death toll was at 363, meaning roughly 1,300 people have died from COVID-19 in the region over the last month. About half of the reported coronavirus death toll have occurred among residents of institutional settings, with the vast majority of deaths happening in skilled nursing facilities.
Another 1,264 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 were also reported, bringing the countywide total to 34,428 cases.
Ferrer also announced 1,264 new coronavirus cases, raising the total to 34,428.
The number of confirmed cases around Southern California include:
- Los Angeles County: 34,428 cases - 1,659 deaths
- Orange County: 3,749 cases - 80 deaths
- Riverside County: 5,248 cases - 225 deaths
- Ventura County: 700 cases - 21 deaths
- San Bernardino County: 3,078 cases - 120 deaths
- San Diego County: 5,161 cases - 190 deaths
Statewide, there are more than 71,082 cases with at least 2,882 deaths reported. According to data collected by Johns Hopkins University, there are more than 1,381,639 cases nationwide with the death toll reaching 83,648 by Wednesday afternoon.