LA County Lets Retailers And Manufacturers Partially Reopen

LOS ANGELES, CA — Los Angeles County will loosen shutdown restrictions on thousands of businesses, allowing all types of retailers to open up for doorside and curbside pickup along with low-risk manufacturing businesses, officials announced Wednesday. At the same time, the county indefinitely extended shutdown orders barring gatherings.

The new order does not allow indoor shopping centers and malls to reopen, but it does authorize the reopening of recreational facilities such as tennis and pickleball courts, shooting and archery ranges, equestrian centers, model airplane centers, community gardens and bike parks. The order, a major milestone in lifting the county's safe-at-home orders, comes just days after a limited number of retailers such as florists were allowed to reopen. It also comes as county health officials announced another spike in coronavirus deaths and new cases in Los Angeles County. County public health director Barbara Ferrer reported 47 COVID-19 deaths Wednesday and 1,264 new coronavirus cases, raising the total to 34,428. The county's overall death toll has reached 1,659.

"As a reminder, before a retail business or manufacturer or a warehouse opens, they are required to prepare, implement and post their compliance with our directives to demonstrate that they're adhering to distancing and infection control practices that protect both employees and customers," Ferrer said.

Those directives mandate face coverings for employees and customers, regular cleaning of "high-touch" surfaces and readily accessibility of hand- washing or sanitation stations.

The rising death toll and number of new cases continue to be a major concern for LA County officials as they authorize reopenings — with good reason. A new study by UC San Francisco found that 90 percent of the people who tested positive for the coronavirus in San Francisco's Mission District were essential workers required to leave their homes for work, the Los Angeles Times reported. Most of them are low-wage earners living in households with three or more people. The findings indicate that essential workers may risk their health by continuing to work with the public.

With that data in mind, county leaders are cautious about the latest phase of reopening.

On Wednesday, the county also authorized individual cities to temporarily close some streets to automobile traffic to provide additional space for residents to engage in outdoor recreation.

The loosened restrictions were included in a new "Safer At Home" public health order, replacing one that was set to expire Friday. The new order -- which continues to urge people to stay home as much as possible, engage in social distancing and wear face coverings when interacting in public -- has no expiration date, an indication such mandates will be in place for months to come.

The county's "Safer At Home" order has never barred people from leaving their homes, but it continues to mandate closures of dine-in restaurants, museums and gyms, while also banning large gatherings.

The county on Friday allowed selected "low-risk" retail businesses -- toy stores, sporting goods stores, clothing stores, music shops and florists -- to reopen with curbside pickup only. Car dealers were also permitted to reopen, as long as they adhere to sanitation and social distancing mandates. County hiking trails and golf courses reopened Saturday, and county beaches opened for active use only on Wednesday.

"In the last few weeks, we've worked together to slow the spread of COVID-19, and this will now be our new foreseeable normal in the future," she said. `Everywhere we go, we will be taking protections. ... This is because COVID-19 as a virus is still relatively easy to transmit, and it can cause, as I've noted, serious illness and death. That means that as much as possible, when you can, you ought to stay home. You ought to continue to adhere to the Safer At Home recommendations, stay with your households, there are no events or gatherings that are allowed. We ask that you help us make sure that as we are on our recovery journey, we take our steps together in a way that protects each other.

Driving home the continued danger of the virus, Ferrer announced 47 additional deaths due to the coronavirus, although four of those deaths were announced Tuesday afternoon by officials in Long Beach and Pasadena, both of which have their own health agencies.

The new fatalities lifted the county wide death toll to 1,659. Ferrer noted that one month ago, the death toll was at 363, meaning roughly 1,300 people have died from COVID-19 in the county since mid-April.

Ferrer also announced 1,264 new coronavirus cases, raising the total to 34,428.

Roughly half of the coronavirus deaths in the county have been among residents of institutional settings, the vast majority of them in skilled nursing facilities.

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