As worst case scenario has been suggested repeatedly by local government officials in the past few days, it seems increasingly likely that Los Angeles County and surrounding areas throughout Southern California will be able to move to a less restrictive level of blocking – from purple , the most restrictive layer, to red – soon and potentially as fast as next week. The move would bring massive changes in the daily lives of consumers, workers and small business owners almost immediately, with openings for gyms, cinemas and some in-house restaurants (though all with limited capacity). Here’s what we know.
Earlier this week, Los Angeles City Mayor Eric Garcetti told reporters that greater Los Angeles is “on the verge” of moving to the red level “as early as next week”, which would allow for indoor meals . “Hope is on the horizon,” he added in the report, which aired on ABC7. Likewise, yesterday the LA County Director of Public Health said that “it’s very possible that we’ll get to the red level as early as next week,” according KNX reporter Claudia Peschiutta, although Dr. Ferrer later clarified (when He asked) that it meant that LA County could reach the data limits needed for the move, not that the move would actually happen.
Under current state-level guidance, individual counties must remain below the limits required to change levels for at least two weeks. So why did the mayor and Dr. Ferrer originally start to claim otherwise? Was it all a slip of the tongue?
Possibly. But on March 4, California Governor Gavin Newsom formally announced a plan to redistribute 40 percent of the state’s vaccines to underprivileged areas as a way to “accelerate the economy’s reopening,” according to the LA Times. Here’s more, than Schedules:
After approximately 400,000 more doses are administered to people living in the most affected communities in California – which could happen in the next two weeks – government officials Gavin Newsom said the state intends to significantly loosen the rules for counties to move out of the upper tier. restrictive of the California coronavirus reopening plan.
“Increasing vaccinations in our most affected communities is morally right and good for public health, because it will slow the spread of the disease,” said Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency, in a statement.
The current target for distribution to underprivileged communities is 2 million total doses; the state has already sent 1.6 million doses to these areas. As soon as this new metric is reached, the state will automatically and immediately adjust its necessary limits for movements between layers – most notably, adjusting the number of positive cases from less than seven per 100,000 cases, to less than 10 per 100,000 cases. Los Angeles County, and most nearby counties, have been well below that updated threshold and have been around for some time, so any update on the state’s boundaries would immediately jump those counties to the lower level.
This is the text of a press release sent by the governor’s office a few minutes ago:
Once this limit is reached, the Blueprint for a Safer Economy will be updated to allow slightly higher case rates in each tier, with the general effect of allowing counties to loosen health restrictions at a somewhat rapid pace, but still responsible.
So: California authorities are moving quickly to bring much-needed vaccines to some of the most important areas in the state. Once this is done, they will adjust above the threshold numbers needed to move to lower levels, which will automatically allow many counties across Southern California (including Los Angeles County) to move low in a less restrictive layer. The new red level would allow indoor meals limited to 25 percent of the total capacity, based on the company’s occupancy certificate – or 100 people in total, whichever is less.
And there’s more. Governor Newsom currently has a state speech at 6 pm, in front of lawmakers and broadcast live to the public, scheduled for next Tuesday, March 9 at 6 pm, which would be a great stage to announce that California, economically speaking , is starting to reopen. State officials have not confirmed that Newsom will make such an announcement about changing boundaries and new layer assignments, but it looks like it’s on the table.
Regardless, public health officials are now saying that distributing the necessary vaccines to hard-hit communities will take maximum two weeks, which means that, no matter what, indoor meals are expected to return to Los Angeles County and much of the state this month. Don’t be surprised if it happens next week.