Hermosa Beach Coronavirus Update For March 25

Press release from the City of Hermosa Beach:

March 25, 2021

To help keep the community informed, the City of Hermosa Beach is providing regular updates featuring the latest news about COVID-19; related local updates; and how the City is working to meet the needs of the community and protect public health.

City Council Extends Commercial Eviction Moratorium: The Hermosa Beach City Council voted Tuesday night to extend the commercial eviction moratorium to June 30, 2021. The City’s eviction moratorium was scheduled to end March 31, 2021. The commercial eviction moratorium protects commercial tenants from eviction for failure to pay rent due to financial impacts related to COVID-19, effectively deferring payment of rent during the defined moratorium period. The amount of time to repay rent in arrears continues to be six months after the end of the moratorium period, (July 1-December 31, 2021) and landlords aren’t allowed to evict a tenant during that six-month period if the tenant is paying rent that is due in a timely manner and repaying past due rent. The moratorium also requires landlords obtain permits before evicting commercial tenants for the demolition or substantial remodeling of leased properties. Extending these commercial tenant protections through June 30, 2021 aligns with the expiration date of the statewide residential eviction moratorium known as the COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act.

City Moving to Re-open Basketball Courts: As a result of the changes in COVID-19 restrictions, the City is also moving ahead with getting local basketball courts re-opened this week. The courts are scheduled to be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. The L.A. County Department of Public Health requires face coverings and physical distancing while playing.

COVID-19 Vaccine Eligibility Expanded: The California Department of Public Health and the L.A. County Department of Public Health (Public Health) today announced that they expect to expand COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to more Californians because the vaccine supply is expected to significantly increase in the coming weeks. Starting April 1, they said individuals aged 50+ will be eligible to make an appointment, and individuals 16+ will be eligible to make an appointment to be vaccinated starting on April 15. To sign up for a notification when you're eligible for a vaccine, please visit myturn.ca.gov. For more information on the vaccine effort, visit Vaccinate All 58. Public Health said it is hoping the expansion of eligibility will lead to increased doses of vaccines coming into L.A. County. It said L.A. County vaccination sites continue to operate below their capacity and have the ability to vaccinate around twice the number of residents each week than the current vaccine allocation allows. For more information, please visit the County’s website.

County Predicts Moving into Less Restrictive Orange Tier in Early April: The L.A. County Department of Public Health on Tuesday reported that if it can maintain the current lower rates of infections and hospitalizations, it would move into the less restrictive orange tier in the State’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy in early April. The latest state numbers show L.A. County's adjusted case rate dropped from 4.1 new cases per 100,000 people to 3.7 new cases per 100,000 people. The test positivity rate dropped from 2.0% to 1.8%. L.A. County is currently in the red tier and has to remain there for three weeks prior to be assigned to the orange tier. In the orange tier, among the many modifications, restaurants, movie theaters, houses of worship, museums, zoos and aquariums can raise their indoor capacity from 25% to 50% and indoor gyms and yoga studios can increase their indoor capacity from 10% to 25%.

More Infectious COVID-19 Variants Reported in L.A. County: The L.A. County Department of Public Health (Public Health) reported on Wednesday that 34% of the 73 specimens it analyzed at the Public Health Laboratory over the past week were the California variant of concern, identified as B.1.427 or 429. It also reported that 21 cases, or 29% of the specimens analyzed, were the U.K. variant of concern, B.1.1.7. Public Health said this means 63% of the variants sequenced this past week are variants of concern with the probability of increased transmissibility and more severe disease. Los Angeles County has yet to identify cases of the South African variant or the Brazilian variant of concern, the P.1 variant. Other variants of interest that were detected included 8 cases of the New York variant and 1 case of the Brazilian variant of interest P.2. While these variants are still considered only variants of interest (and not variants of concern), their presence indicates transmission of mutated viruses from across the globe.

Public Health Encourages Staycation Spring Breaks: With Spring Break just around the corner, the L.A. County Department of Public Health encourages everyone to remain close to home and adhere to the State travel advisory, which recommends no recreational travel outside a 120-mile radius. Unless they are fully vaccinated, recreational travelers and residents coming to L.A. County are required to self-quarantine for 10 days after returning from out-of-state or out-of-country travel. It is recommended that resident travelers who are exposed to crowds and/or unmasked individuals in close proximity get tested upon their return. There is a heightened risk if traveling to places with high rates of community transmission, like Miami, which is recently reporting a 9% test positivity rate; this is 6 times higher than the test positivity rate in L.A. County.

Los Angeles County Update: The L.A. County Department of Public Health (Public Health) today confirmed that the County has reached a devastating milestone, losing more than 23,000 people to COVID-19. To date, Public Health has identified 1,216,250 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County and a total of 23,020 deaths. Today, Public Health confirmed 66 new deaths and 608 new cases of COVID-19.

Latest Facts and Figures

Jurisdiction - Reported Cases | Reported Deaths

• Hermosa Beach - 943 | 11
• L.A. County - 1,216,250 | 23,020
• California - 3,553,307 | 57,091
• United States - 29,834,734 | 542,584

*All reported data is from the close of the previous day.

Additional Resources

Please continue to follow public health experts’ recommendations to avoid spreading the coronavirus including frequent handwashing, wearing a face covering, keeping a safe distance from one another, and staying home if you are ill. Public Health has issued the following guidance during this time of increased spread: If you are mildly sick, stay home for at least seven days or until 72 hours after being fever free, whichever is longer. Call your doctor if you are concerned and/or your symptoms worsen. Individuals who are elderly, have underlying health conditions or pregnant should consider contacting their providers earlier when they are sick. More information is available here.

We are monitoring updates and sharing information about the coronavirus from trusted sources including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, California Department of Public Health, and Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

This press release was produced by the City of Hermosa Beach. The views expressed are the author's own.