County Of Los Angeles -Red Tier Reopenings, Vaccination Eligibility Expansion And Small Business Stabilization Loan Program

Press release from the Venice Chamber of Commerce:

March 15, 2021

Update 3/15/21 Red Tier Reopenings, Vaccination Eligibility Expansion and Small Business Stabilization Loan Program

Red Tier Reopenings

In a major milestone, Los Angeles County has met the State’s threshold to reopen key sectors and starting TODAY will permit a wide range of indoor operations to resume in sectors including: middle and high schools; restaurants; movie theaters; gyms; and museums, zoos and aquariums, all with safeguards in place.

In alignment with the State’s reopening framework, mandatory masking, distancing and infection control practices remain in place for every business and permitted activity, and certain sectors have additional safety modifications required or recommended.

The County’s Health Officer Orders and sector protocols have been updated to reflect the changes.

This shift to less restrictions shows that efforts by residents to slow the spread of COVID-19 is working. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is urging people to continue taking infection control precautions to prevent a resurgence of COVID-19 in our communities.

People should continue to wear face coverings when in public, continue practicing physical distancing and avoiding crowds and large gatherings. Fully vaccinated people should also continue with these practices, with some exceptions, including the ability to visit with other fully vaccinated people, indoors, without masks, per new guidance.

Head over to our social media toolkit to find creative ways to share this important information with your community!

Vaccination Eligibility Expansion

Today, March 15th, people aged 16-64 who have underlying health conditions or disabilities are now eligible to receive vaccines, as their conditions put them at the highest risk of becoming very sick from COVID-19.

Persons who are newly eligible and qualify for a COVID-19 vaccine due to a medical condition should note that during registration for a vaccine appointment, they will be asked to state that they have a high-risk medical condition or disability.

To protect confidentially, they will not be asked to disclose the specific condition.

People getting vaccinated must provide documentation at all appointments with either a letter from a healthcare provider, a personal physician or an agency providing services or, if not available, the eligible person or their caretaker will be asked to sign an attestation.

All eligible persons will also need to provide identification (government ID not required) and proof that they live within LA County at their appointment.

For information about vaccine appointments in L.A. County and when your turn is coming up, to sign up for a vaccination newsletter, and much more, visit: VaccinateLACounty.com (English) and VacunateLosAngeles.com (Spanish). Vaccinations are always free and open to eligible residents and workers regardless of immigration status.

Small Business Stabilization Loan Program

The Los Angeles County Development Authority has launched an affordable and flexible business loan program to support and help stabilize businesses in the region. Small Business Stabilization Loans range from $50,000 to $3 million, and can be used for working capital, equipment purchases, inventory, or refinancing of existing loans at higher interest rates.

The Small Business Stabilization Loan Program will accept applications through April 16, 2021, or until $20 million in funding requests is received, whichever occurs first.

The Program pairs the loan with technical assistance from partners that offer complementary online webinars, one-on-one financial consultations, application assistance, and an evaluation of a business' readiness to submit an LACDA loan application. The final “How to apply for an LACDA loan” webinar, a pre-requisite for submitting a Small Business Stabilization Loan application, will be held on March 25, 2021, in English and Spanish.

To register for a webinar, or obtain more information on the requirements to apply for the Small Business Stabilization Loan Program, please visit BizStabilization.lacda.org, or call (626) 586-1550.

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Update 3/8/21
Road to Reopening - State Tier Metric Update, CDC Guidance for Fully Vaccinated People

Road to Reopening - Updates to the State's Guidelines

Last Friday, the State announced updates to their Blueprint for a Safer Economy. In addition to assessing County case rates, positivity rates and positivity rates in neighborhoods with the lowest scores in the Healthy Places Index, the State is now taking into consideration the number of vaccinations that have been administered in the lowest resourced neighborhoods statewide. Unlike the other 3 metrics, vaccination numbers will be calculated statewide and used to change the case rate thresholds for counties to move from one tier to another.

On Friday, the state also announced a plan to permit the reopening of outdoor sporting events, live outdoor concerts and theme parks, starting on April 1st.

Starting April 1st, outdoor sporting events and outdoor live concerts will be permitted with significant capacity and infection control modifications. For counties in the purple tier, capacity at these outdoor events will be limited to 100 people or less, reservations will be required, and concessions will not be allowed. Only people who live in the region where the event is taking place will be permitted to attend. Once in the red tier, these outdoor events can open at 20% capacity, limited to in-state visitors only; concessions will be allowed only while seated. As counties move into less restrictive tiers, the allowed capacity will increase.

Theme parks can open for counties in the red tier at 15% of capacity with in-state visitors only, and as counties move into less restrictive tiers, the allowed capacity again increases.

Public Health is working with the Board of Supervisors and sector partners to plan safe re-openings in LA County at these newly re-opening venues.

Fully Vaccinated? Public Health Guidance You Need to Know.

The CDC released guidance this morning which states that fully vaccinated people can gather indoors with other fully vaccinated people in small groups without wearing masks or practicing physical distancing.

Individuals are considered fully vaccinated 2 weeks or more after they have received the second dose of either Pfizer or Moderna or two weeks or more after they have received the single dose Johnson and Johnson vaccine. Fully vaccinated people can also visit with unvaccinated people from a single household who are at low risk for severe COVID-19 disease indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing.

Fully vaccinated people should continue to wear a mask and maintain physical distance in public. They should mask, physically distance, and practice other prevention measures when visiting unvaccinated people at increased risk for severe COVID-19 disease or who have an unvaccinated household member at increased risk for severe COVID-19 disease, and when around unvaccinated people from multiple households. Fully vaccinated people should also avoid medium- and large-sized in-person gatherings.

LA County and the California DPH are reviewing this guidance and will be updating our guidance shortly.

This press release was produced by the Venice Chamber of Commerce. The views expressed are the author's own.