Troubling Trends Risk LA's Reopening As Coronavirus Cases Climb

LOS ANGELES, CA — The vast majority of bars and restaurants in Los Angeles County are failing to comply with pandemic safety mandates, according to county health officials. At the same time, many residents aren't taking basic precautions to protect themselves from coronavirus. Combined with the increase in new cases and hospitalizations, the trend threatens to stall or reverse efforts to reopen the economy, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health warned Thursday.

In the three weeks that restaurants — and now bars — have been allowed to reopen for dine-in service, 83% of all 3,700 establishments inspected were found not to be in full compliance with protocols for reopening, said County health department director Barbara Ferrer. Officials are also concerned about individuals who don't follow mask and social distancing mandates as well. Namely, authorities worry as more people host family gatherings, risking the possibility that younger members of the family may unknowingly spread the disease to vulnerable loved ones.

"When we look at the actions of businesses and individuals with our recovery indicators, it shows how well we're doing on slowing the spread of COVID-19 and maintaining our capacity for caring for people who become ill, and based on this information, we are concerned," Ferrer told reporters Thursday.

"We're concerned not only for the people who are out and who are not wearing their face coverings or keeping their distance from others, but we're also concerned for the people that may unknowingly infect their parents, their grandparents, their friends and their family who have underlying health conditions and who are at greater risk for serious illness and death."

She said if businesses don't adhere to protocols for reopening and residents fail to take precautionary measures, "our recovery journey will look very different than what we hoped."

"All of us want to continue to reopen, and it's important to note that the health of our community ... depends on the actions each of us are taking," she said. "We do have control of what happens here. So please do what's right to help each other."

Ferrer said that over the past two months, the largest percentage of complaints the Department of Public Health received about restaurants and other businesses were violations of the requirement that safety protocols be publicly posted at each establishment and distributed to employees. The second most common complaint was people not wearing face coverings.

"And though this represents a smaller portion (of the complaints) this month than May, it's still a significant concern," Ferrer said.

Gov. Gavin Newsom Thursday warned again that hospitalizations were continuing to climb statewide, up roughly 30% over the past two weeks. Los Angeles County's hospitalization numbers were also climbing, Ferrer said. Although Thursday's statistics were not immediately available, she estimated that the number was likely over 1,600, continuing a rise that has been seen throughout the week. On Wednesday, the number was 1,556.

"This is extraordinarily worrisome, as it does reflect the result of more community transmission of COVID-19," Ferrer said. "People are out more. There's more people becoming infected and unfortunately increased cases will always lead us to more hospitalizations."

Ferrer said the rate of people testing positive for the illness has also been increasing, with the seven-day daily average now at about 8.4% -- a point it hadn't reached since April. The county's overall positivity rate is still around 8%.

On Thursday, Los Angeles County reported another 1,869 cases, while Long Beach announced 104 and Pasadena added 6, lifting the overall county total to 91,577.

The county also reported another 40 deaths from the virus, while Long Beach announced one additional fatality. The new deaths increased the countywide total to 3,247.

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