LA Business Reopenings Not Likely For Weeks

LOS ANGELES, CA — Having learned some hard lessons when the coronavirus surged following Fourth of July and Memorial Day weekends, county health officials said Monday that they won't authorize more business reopenings until enough time has passed to know if Labor Day weekend caused a similar surge in new cases.

The announcement was frustrating for many who have been hopeful that recent declines in new cases countywide could mean the reopening of businesses and schools. Other Southland counties, such as Orange County have begun reopening schools, restaurants and theaters.

County public health director Barbara Ferrer said she knows there is an overwhelming public desire to lift health restrictions. But a rush to reopen could have deadly results ending with more shutdowns. She urged a methodical and cautious approach.

"So many have taken and continue to take action to protect themselves and, just as importantly, to protect other people," she said. "This pandemic is frustrating and heartbreaking, and not the least of it is that we desperately want to go back to living our lives the way they were before. And unfortunately as we've already experienced, doing so creates illness and devastation for so many, including people who are very vulnerable."

On Monday, the county reported 24 more coronavirus-related deaths, while Pasadena health officials announced one fatality, bringing the countywide total since the start of the pandemic to 6,232. The county also announced 733 new cases, while Long Beach reported 29 more, pushing the overall total to 254,685. Ferrer noted that Monday case numbers are typically lower than usual due to delays in reporting of results over the weekend and more limited availability of testing.
A total of 775 people were hospitalized due to the virus as of Monday.

While Los Angeles County health officials said schools won't be allowed to fully reopen until, at least, November, some schools will be able to open their doors for "specialized in- school services" as early as Monday.

Earlier this month, the county agreed to allow in-person instruction for some students in kindergarten through 12th grade, but only for small groups of students with individualized learning plans, students requiring instruction for English as a second language and students needing other "specialized in- school services."

Ferrer said that as of Monday, 59 schools have submitted plans to offer such in-person instruction, and about half of them could be open as early as Monday.

She said public health officials would be working with each school to ensure they are meeting all required safety protocols. All other schools remain closed for in-person learning throughout the county due to the virus.

On Monday morning, a group of elected officials from Bell Gardens, Commerce, Gardena and Hawaiian Gardens held a news conference calling for the reopening of outdoor activity at card rooms, with some officials saying the cities' budgets rely heavily on the income they generate. The state's coronavirus guidelines allow such operations, but Los Angeles County has not authorized them.

Operators of small craft breweries have been making a similar push to reopen for outdoor service, saying they can't survive solely on to-go sales.

Ferrer said she respects that the county has maintained tougher rules than the state in some instances, but said those restrictions won't be changing for a few weeks.

"We've made a decision with our board that we're going to hold steady until the end of September, when we are going to be looking at what the data is that we've seen after the Labor Day weekend," Ferrer said. " ... We've had significant spikes in cases after the holidays, and that has resulted in us needing to sort of take some steps backward. We want to avoid doing that again so we're going to wait a couple weeks, look at our data, review it with our board. ... And we will be getting back to everyone toward the end of the month."

Since the virus has a two-week incubation period, spikes in possible new cases from increased public exposure over Labor Day weekend would not be reflected in case data for about 14 days.

Craft breweries and some other small businesses, however, could be getting some financial relief from the county, with the Board of Supervisors expected to vote Tuesday on a $10 million grant program designed to assist companies that have been prevented from reopening.

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