Manhattan Beach Mayor Joins Letter Effort To Reopen Businesses

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA — Manhattan Beach Mayor Richard Montgomery has signed a letter asking Gov. Newsom to allow 7 South Bay cities to reopen businesses before the rest of Los Angeles County since data for the 7 cities alone would put them in the Red Tier for reopening.

In the letter, the mayors of MB, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, El Segundo, Rancho Palos Verdes, Torrance and Palos Verdes Estates say they fear businesses in their cities having to close their doors and go out of business due to the COVID-19 pandemic and make their case for why the 7 South Bay should be allowed to proceed to the Red Tier even if all of LA County's data doesn't support doing so.

LA County is currently in the Purple Tier, which is the state's most restrictive. Orange County has moved to the Red Tier, reopening theaters, restaurants and readying schools.

Fortunately, LA County's testing positivity rate has dropped below levels not seen since spring. Its 3.2% positivity rate is low enough to move to a less-restrictive tier, but average new case numbers are still too high, currently averaging 8.1 cases per 100,000 residents. The state threshold for advancing to the Red Tier is seven cases per 100,000. According to Barbara Ferrer, the county's public health director., the numbers in all categories have been trending downward over the past six weeks, following a spike seen after the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

Health officials have said repeatedly they will not consider any more business reopenings in the county until at least late September, after determining if virus cases and hospitalizations increase following the Labor Day holiday weekend -- the way they did after Memorial Day and the Fourth of July.

Health officials have said repeatedly they will not consider any more business reopenings in the county until at least late September, after determining if virus cases and hospitalizations increase following the Labor Day holiday weekend -- the way they did after Memorial Day and the Fourth of July.

"Last week, we saw the lowest positivity rate to date, at around 3.4%," she said. "This means that almost 97% of the tests that people took for COVID-19 ended up being negative. Just a month ago, in mid-August, this rate was around 5%. So we're happy to see the progress that we've made and we're very much hoping that this number continues to decrease."

She again warned, however, that the impact of the Labor Day holiday weekend has yet to be borne out in case numbers, since the virus has a 14-day incubation period. She also said upcoming fall and winter holidays, including the start of Rosh Hashanah this weekend, could lead to setbacks if people become lax about social distancing and other preventive measures.

"The autumn and winter months are filled with special times that we all are looking forward to," she said. "There's many secular and religious holidays that we usually celebrate by spending time with our friends and extended family members. And the pandemic has been difficult and frustrating in many ways, including placing limits on how we can celebrate safely. I do encourage all of us to think now about how we might want to modify our plans so we can share the joy of the holidays while reducing the risk of transmitting a dangerous and sometimes deadly virus."

She and the county's health services director, Dr. Christina Ghaly, urged people to get a flu shot, noting that as flu season arrives, people who contract both influenza and COVID-19 may be susceptible to severe illness.

The county on Wednesday reported 31 coronavirus-related deaths, although one of those fatalities was actually announced Tuesday by health officials in Long Beach. The total number of deaths in the county stood at 6,303 as of Wednesday.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.