Thanks to the decrease in the number of cases and the changes implemented by the state in response to vaccination efforts, Los Angeles County officials said on Monday that they are preparing to move to a less restrictive level of the Covid- economic reopening model. 19 in the state as early as next week.
But whether the county will approve all of the reopens allowed in the “red” layer of this project – such as indoor meals – remains unclear.
Moving from the “purple” restrictive layer to the red layer will authorize the county to increase capacity limits at retail establishments and reopen in-house restaurants, health clubs and cinemas. However, the county is not subject to state guidelines on loosening restrictions. It can impose stricter orders and continue to impose stricter rules.
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For example, while the county currently allows outdoor dining in the purple layer, it still prohibits restaurants from turning on television in their courtyards, as a way to avoid meeting sports fans. The state does not have this restriction on restaurants.
Governor Gavin Newsom has repeatedly said last year that he wanted to give local health officials freedom from reopening, allowing them to be stricter – but not less rigid – than state rules.
County public health director Barbara Ferrer said on Monday that while the county is fully committed to implementing a key element at the red level – the reopening of face-to-face classes for students in grades 7 through 12 – she I would just say that health officials are discussing with the Board of Supervisors about other business reopenings. And she again insisted that dining in person at restaurants carries a high risk of transmitting COVID-19.
“We are working with the Board of Supervisors and all of our sectors to plan what will be a sensible and safe reopening, as permitted by the state, but as appropriate for our county,” said Ferrer. “And we will be sure to share this information not only with all of you, but, in a really important way, with all sectors in a very timely manner at the end of this week.”
She said the county is working “to make a reasonable plan for how to move forward.”
Ferrer and other local health officials have long resisted allowing restaurants to reopen. For months, they were criticized for having little empirical evidence to support their closing orders, and the California Restaurant Association ended up getting a court order that allowed its LA members to reopen for outdoor dining.
While discussing possible reopenings under the red level on Monday, however, Ferrer pointed to a recent study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that specifically discussed the danger of the spread of Covid represented by “on-site dining” . The county has been reluctant at times during the pandemic to allow on-site dining – inside or outside the home – leading to lawsuits filed by individual restaurants and the California Restaurant Association.
“As we plan to move to the red level, where additional reopenings will be allowed, we are closely examining science to understand what practices can help reduce the transmission of Covid-19 by the community,” said Ferrer.
According to Ferrer, the CDC study evaluated government policies in more than 3,000 counties and their impact on COVID cases and mortality rates.
“The study found that allowing on-site dining in restaurants is associated with significant increases in case growth rates … after reopening, and increases in mortality rates 60 to 100 days after restrictions have been lifted,” said Ferrer .
She added: “Allowing on-site restaurant dinners to be associated with increases in case rates and mortality at the county level, and this is something we will need to take into account when starting more reopenings at our restaurants. It has been shown that masking mandates and banning on-site dining in restaurants … limit potential exposures to the virus, and this has resulted in less transmission by the community. ”
The county was initially anticipated to advance to the red level later this month, with the rate of new daily infections COVID-19 expected to fall below the state’s required 7 cases per 100,000 residents as early as Tuesday. If the county maintained that level for two weeks, it would change from the purple layer to the red layer.
The state, however, changed the limits to move through the four-tier plan for a safer economy last week, taking into account the volume of vaccines being administered in hard-hit low-income communities across the state. The new limits may go into effect as early as this week,
when the state reaches the administration mark of 2 million doses of vaccine in the hard-hit neighborhoods.
When that happens, moving to the red level will require the county to have a new case rate of 10 per 100,000 residents – a rate that Los Angeles County will have already achieved in the required two weeks. Ferrer said this means the county is likely to move to red in the middle of next week.
At the red level, state guidelines also allow capacity to be increased to 50% in retail stores, while cinemas, museums and aquariums can open at 25% capacity. Indoor dining in restaurants is allowed up to 25% capacity and indoor fitness centers with 10% capacity. Again, all guidelines are subject to county approval.
Governor Newsom is, of course, facing a possible revocation election in the fall. He is barnstorming the state by visiting vaccination clinics and loosening reopening restrictions on schools and local communities.
LA County reported another 13 Covid-related deaths on Monday, bringing the death toll across the county during the pandemic to 22,041.
Another 880 cases were announced by the county, while Long Beach health officials added another 41 and Pasadena 10, bringing the cumulative pandemic total to 1,204,069.
The number of new deaths and cases is usually low on Mondays due to delays in the weekend’s notification.
According to state data, there were 1,119 people hospitalized in the municipality due to COVID until Monday, with 334 people in intensive care.
Until Friday, 2,415,460 doses of the COVID vaccine had been administered in the municipality. This includes 814,593 second doses, representing the number of people who have been fully vaccinated.
The county is expected to receive about 312,000 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine this week, its largest weekly distribution to date. Health officials expect the number to continue to increase as more people become eligible for vaccines and more businesses and activities are reopened, leading to a greater concentration of residents.
The City News Service contributed to this report.