With 6K New Coronavirus Cases, LA County Faces Stay-Home Orders

LOS ANGELES, CA — Los Angeles County has reported another 6,124 cases of the coronavirus, shattering the region's single-day record during the the COVID-19 pandemic and surpassing the threshold set to trigger new stay-at-home orders.

As of Monday, Los Angeles County exceeded the five-day average of 4,500 new daily cases, Los Angeles County Public Health Department Director Barbara Ferrer said. Last week, the department warned that if the five-day average exceeds 4,500, a Targeted Safer at Home Order would be issued for three weeks. A new stay-at-home order would allow only essential workers and those seeking essential services to leave their homes. According to Ferrer, health officials will discuss possible new restrictions with the Board of Supervisors, which meets Tuesday.

Exactly what that order will look like was unclear, pending the discussion expected Tuesday. But Ferrer said the specifics still need to be ironed out with the board.

"I know for sure we're not going back to all of the restrictions that were in place in the original Safer At Home order (issued at the beginning of the pandemic)," Ferrer said. "For one thing, we've learned a lot more. We have much more capacity on testing now, which allows us to do a better job quickly identifying people who are positive. And to everyone's credit, this is a county that — when we had a surge before — was able to, in fact, get back to slowing the spread.

"It did require us making some decisions about closing some sectors, but i think again this will be a conversation with the board," she said. "And, you know, (I) appreciate that we have five supervisors. ... We've been working together since March and appreciate that this is something that will require deliberation and conversation so that we actually can mark a path forward."

The surge comes as millions grapple with whether to gather with friends and family for the Thanksgiving holiday even though health officials are warning families not to hold gatherings with people from other households.

Los Angeles County health officials will again prohibit in-person restaurant dining beginning Wednesday. The move comes in response to a surge that has now seen new daily COVID-19 virus cases average more than 4,000 over the past five days. The revised public health order will restrict restaurants, breweries and wineries to take-out, drive-thru and delivery services. However, the move is already drawing backlash from those who contend it could deal a death blow to restaurants already struggling to stay afloat during the pandemic.

At least one county supervisor is opposing the move, saying it unduly punishes eateries for the surge and threatens hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Officials warned of the possibility of such measures last week, as new cases and hospitalizations surged in Los Angeles County and statewide. They follow a statewide "soft curfew" that went into effect Saturday prohibiting all "nonessential work, movement and gatherings" between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., continuing until the morning of Dec. 21.

While small gatherings do risk spreading the disease, dine-in restaurants, health care facilities and food processing plants remain the chief means of spread, according to state data analyzed by the New York Times.

Supervisor Kathryn Barger said she will oppose the county health order during the Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday, citing estimates by the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation that approximately 700,000 food industry jobs could be lost, with 75 percent of those losses affecting workers earning $50,000 or less.

"These proposed measures by the Department of Public Health will further devastate local businesses and employees who have been asked to shoulder an unfair burden this year," Barger said in a statement.

Barger said only 10-15 percent of positive COVID-19 cases are related to dining out with someone who tested positive, while more than half are connected to private social gatherings. Closing outdoor dining — where compliance with health orders is high — could also create the unintended consequence of prompting more private gatherings, she said.

"Businesses have made incredible sacrifices to align with safety protocols to remain open in order to pay their bills and feed their families," Barger said. "Increased case counts are not coming from businesses reopening, but from large gatherings where people aren't wearing masks. We aren't helpless in slowing the spread of COVID-19 and can protect ourselves and our neighbors by maintaining physical distancing and wearing face coverings."

Barger's staff said she planned to address the matter during the board's discussion Tuesday on public health orders. It was not immediately clear whether she would have support among her colleagues if she chose to bring a motion to revise the health order.

One other board member, Janice Hahn, expressed concern about the in- person dining ban Sunday night.

"While I know our case counts are growing rapidly, I would have rather discussed this measure openly during our Board of Supervisors meeting so that the public could understand the rationale behind it," Hahn wrote on her Twitter page. "Some of these restaurants are barely hanging on. I hope this isn't the last nail in their coffins. I wish we could have figured out a way to put in more restrictions rather than completely shutting down dining."

But Supervisor Sheila Kuehl told City News Service the board was in full agreement last Tuesday about the ban following a presentation by Ferrer.

"All five of us agreed," Kuehl said. "So I was surprised to hear that Kathryn had taken it upon herself to individually express opposition. I don't see any support for that position anywhere and certainly, I don't support it.

"Outdoor dining is probably more dangerous in terms of contagion than any other kind of business," Kuehl said. "People sit for hours with no masks on" and while they may be distant from other tables, they are in close proximity to servers and patrons walking by.

"I was just told that the cases today are over 6,000 — 6,000. We have never, never been that high," she added. "So I support this move (to ban outdoor dining) even more."

Both Kuehl and Barger said that the authority to issue public health orders lies with the public health department. In October, the board did take steps to issue its own order allowing breweries and wineries serving food to reopen, effectively overruling Ferrer's recommendations. Such an order by the board, however, does not require enforcement by public health employees, according to Kuehl.

On Sunday, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reported 2,718 new cases of COVID-19 and nine additional deaths, bringing the county's totals to 364,520 cases and 7,438 fatalities. The previous three days had each seen more than 4,000 cases reported, including a single-day record of 5,031 cases on Thursday.

The five-day average of more than 4,000 cases prompted the ban on in- person dining, following thresholds released last week by county health officials.

If the five-day average of cases grows to 4,500 or more or hospitalizations are more than 2,000 per day, a Targeted Safer at Home Order will be issued for three weeks, according to the health department. That order would amount to a stay-at-home order like the one issued at the start of the pandemic, allowing only essential and emergency workers and those securing essential services to leave their homes.

The number of county residents hospitalized with the virus increased from 1,391 Saturday to 1,401 Sunday, with 26 percent in intensive care. That's more than double the daily number in the beginning of October, when it was under 700.

The department reminded everyone to stay home as much as possible for the next two to three weeks to change the trajectory of surging cases and save lives, and repeated its advice that people not travel for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.

"As we modify our Thanksgiving holiday celebrations, we are reminded of the many families who will miss their loved ones who have passed away from COVID-19. We send wishes for healing and peace," Ferrer said in a statement.

"The persistent high number of cases requires additional safety measures that limit mixing in settings where people are not wearing masks. We hope individuals continue to support restaurants, breweries and wineries by ordering for take-out or delivery," she said. "We also fervently hope every L.A. County resident supports all our businesses by following the Public Health directives that we know work to slow spread. Unfortunately, if our cases and hospitalizations continue to increase, we will need to issue further restrictions to protect our healthcare system and prevent more deaths."

On Friday, the county implemented other restrictions that:

• Limit indoor "nonessential" businesses such as retail stores, offices and personal care services to 25 percent occupancy
• Limit outdoor cardrooms, miniature golf sites, go-kart tracks and batting cages to 50 percent of maximum outdoor capacity.
• Mandate advance appointments for customers at personal-care businesses and bar services that require customers to remove their face masks.
• Restrict outdoor gatherings to no more than 15 people from a maximum of three households.

The county previously issued guidance limiting gatherings to three households, but there was no numerical limit on attendees.

The state on Saturday night imposed a soft curfew, barring nonessential gatherings and movements between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. Dr. Mark Ghaly, California's Health and Human Services secretary, said the state's order was not a hard curfew, indicating that people can still go outside of their homes, but they just shouldn't gather with others. He noted that he still plans to take his dog on its normal 11 p.m. walk.

Asked about how restrictions will be enforced — in light of Southern California sheriffs stating they won't be actively cracking down on health order violations — Ferrer said last week the county isn't relying on law enforcement, but rather hoping residents will take the urgency to heart to prevent local hospitals from being overrun.

Ferrer also noted that the surge in cases is not just the result of increased testing. She said the county's rising rate of positive tests shows that the virus is spreading more rapidly. The county's seven-day average daily positivity rate among those tested for the virus was 3.9 percent on Nov. 1 but it rose to 5.1 percent by Nov. 8 and stood at 7.1 percent as of Saturday.

City News Service