The morning after Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti revealed that the County Council of Supervisors is considering closing new deals in the event of an increase in Covid-19 numbers, the council did just that on Friday.
While there has been some disagreement over whether cases are decreasing, stabilizing or starting to increase, health officials say there is no doubt that hospitals in the area are unsustainably flooded with patients. As a result, the county suffers one death every six minutes.
Covid-19’s death toll continued a relentless escalation in LA on Thursday, with about 1,700 deaths from the virus just last week. In the previous three days, about 900 deaths occurred in the region.
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LA County looking at new closings if Covid-19 numbers go up again, said Mayor Eric Garcetti
The county’s Department of Public Health announced another 287 deaths from the virus on Thursday, bringing the total number of deaths during the pandemic to 13,234.
The non-profit online publication Capital & Main, citing unidentified county sources, reported on Thursday night that the county Council of Supervisors is holding a closed-door discussion today to consider additional infection control measures, including possible closings of more non-essential businesses. Longtime TV reporter Gigi Graciette, based in LA, quoted sources this morning as saying the closings were, in fact, being discussed at the supervisors’ meeting.
Sources confirm that the LA County Board of Supervisors will discuss the increase in #COVID-19 cases (17K reported yesterday) in a closed-door (virtual) meeting. The Director of Public Health, Dr. Barbara Ferrer, is expected to attend and talk about the possibility of further closings. @foxla
– Gigi Graciette (@GigiGraciette) January 15, 2021
Garcetti said on Thursday night: “I think those are the obvious categories: whether schools remain open or not, in-house academies, youth public leagues.”
Many of these companies are already operating under strict 20% capacity limits under a state-imposed regional stay-at-home order due to a lack of beds in Southern California intensive care units.
According to the county website, the Board of Supervisors will hold a special meeting behind closed doors at 1pm on Friday. The two items on the agenda are a vaguely identified meeting with the legal counsel on “significant exposure to litigation” and an assessment of the performance of county department heads. It should be noted that the California Restaurant Association sued last month, contesting the board’s previous closing order.
During a news conference on Wednesday, County Director of Public Health, Barbara Ferrer, did not rule out the possibility that additional health restrictions could be imposed, especially in light of current numbers of infections, hospitalizations and deaths.
She also noted the likely presence in the county of a new variant of the coronavirus that was first discovered in the UK, but has since been identified in southern California. The new strain of the virus does not make people sicker, but it is much more contagious, meaning it can spread more quickly from person to person, quickly increasing the number of cases. Garcetti cited the variant, called B.1.17, as a potential factor in the decision to implement new closings.
“Current experts’ projections predict that, if left unchecked, this variant could dominate locally in March,” said Ferrer.
She urged residents to continue to adhere to existing health restrictions, while suggesting that more may be needed.
“We must be prepared to do more if the cases remain high,” she said.
“The job ahead of us requires that we take all necessary measures to reduce transmission.”
Thursday night, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti addressed the possible closing of new deals or other restrictions and said, “This is something I know the county is looking for.”
The Mayor said that, given the potential danger of the virus variant in the UK, “we must always be open and I will always follow our public health science and advice [leaders] … And the county supervisors, who I know are making very difficult decisions and are incredible leaders now, trying to figure out whether or not there should be more closings. “
Ferrer reported this week that outbreaks in the workplace have increased dramatically in the past few weeks, helping to drive the increase in cases, possibly giving credit to a possible closure of more companies.
Garcetti echoed concerns about workplaces on Thursday, saying essential workers are at greater risk of being infected with Covid and passing it on to their families.
“We have reached a breaking point where many essential workers in our densest neighborhoods have to work, are coming home and are spreading it,” he said.
The mayor said the region could avoid stricter business restrictions if the number of cases declines.
“But the moment it rises, as we saw in December, at any rate like this, it is absolutely something that we cannot sustain and, most importantly, our hospitals cannot, and we would go into a crisis mode there,” he said.
The city’s news service contributed to this report.