The city of Los Angeles revised its “Safer at Home Order” late Wednesday to accommodate for the latest data amidst rising COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the county.
Eric Garcetti addressed the public Wednesday night urging Los Angeles residents to ‘hunker down’ and avoid any unnecessary travel outside their houses.
“My message couldn’t be simpler… It’s time to hunker down. It’s time to cancel everything. And if it isn’t essential, don’t do it,” Garcetti said during an afternoon briefing.
The new revisions do not mean an absolute lockdown, as the order gives a variety of exceptions.
People in the city are still allowed to conduct business with restaurants (for take-out and delivery only), obtain medical care, and go to other essential businesses that are still open at 20% capacity . Other businesses which operate outdoors are still allowed to remain in operation.
Many recreational activities such as beaches, parks, and public golf courses will remain open.
Travel on foot, bicycle, scooter, motorcycle, automobile, or public transit is mainly prohibited but will be allowed under certain exceptions.
The main goal of these new revisions are to reduce or eliminate gatherings that involve multiple different households meeting.
Failure to comply with the order will result in misdemeanors that can lead to fines or imprisonment. The mayor urged local law enforcement to “vigorously enforce” these orders.
The mayor also threatened the shutdown of water and power to businesses who violate the new orders.
On Thursday, Gov. Newsom announced a move to divide the state into five regions for monitoring ICU hospital capacity. When a region’s ICU capacity falls below 15%, the State’s Regional Stay at Home Order will be implemented for at least three weeks.
The Southern California region, which encompasses Los Angeles County and Imperial, Inyo, Mono, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardina, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbra, and Ventura counties is expected to hit the threshold within the next few days or even as early as Friday.
Once the threshold is reached, all the following sectors must close throughout the region:
- Indoor and outdoor dining
- Personal care services
- Hair salons and barbershops
- Museums, zoos and aquariums
- Playgrounds
- Bars, breweries, wineries and distilleries
- Family entertainment centers
The following sectors will remain open with appropriate infectious disease preventative measures and 100% masking and physical distancing:
- Critical infrastructure
- Schools that have previously received a waiver
- Non-urgent medical and dental care
- Child care
Once the order is put in place, retail businesses will be allowed to operate at 20% capacity and restaurants will remain open or take-out and delivery only. All non-essential businesses will be temporarily restricted for the three week period.
Hotels and lodging will remain open for support of critical infrastructure only.
The city recognized that this is a hard time on many financially, Governor Newsom announced a new financial hotline for people in need of support. Additional resources for businesses are available here and Long Beach-based businesses can seek help by calling
562-570-4BIZ (4279)
For more information about COVID-19 visit longbeach.gov or call (562) 572-INFO (4636)
