City Of West Hollywood Coronavirus Update Governor Newsom And Los Angeles County Order The Immediate Closure Of Bars

Press release from the City of West Hollywood:

June 28, 2020

The City of West Hollywood is getting the word out that Los Angeles County will heed a directive today from Governor Gavin Newsom that bars in Los Angeles County must close, effective immediately. This includes bars in the City of West Hollywood, which is in the jurisdiction of Los Angeles County.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LA County Public Health) has announced that its Health Officer Order will be amended to require that all bars, breweries, brew pubs, pubs, wineries, and tasting rooms close unless they are offering sit-down dine-in meals. This includes closing bar areas in restaurants.

According to LA County Public Health, there has been a sharp increase in new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. The timing of these increases is in line with the reopening of key sectors, including bars, which are places where people remove their face coverings to drink while they may be socializing with people not in their households.

Today’s bar-closure directive follows a revised Health Officer Order on Thursday, June 18, 2020 from LA County Public Health, which further eases restrictions on certain businesses and activities. A forthcoming updated Health Officer Order will be available on the LA County Public Health website at http://ph.lacounty.gov/coronavirus.

LA County Public Health has noted that the State-mandated closure of bars comes as Los Angeles County is reporting significant increases in COVID-19 hospitalizations and the testing positivity rate. Forty-one percent of cases are now among individuals between the ages of 18 and 40. While cases in this age range typically have low risk for serious illness or death, LA County Public Health is concerned that people may unknowingly infect parents, grandparents, and friends and family who have underlying health conditions and who are at greater risk for serious illness and death.

The City of West Hollywood has declared a local emergency in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. When in public, community members should maintain your space with social (physical) distancing of at least six feet, and cover that face to adhere to City, County, and State requirements for the use of face coverings. Face coverings are not required for young children under two-years-old; children between two- and eight-years-old should only wear face coverings with adult supervision; and people with certain medical conditions are exempt from this requirement. Public Health officials recommend that everyone must continue to follow physical distancing and infection control directives and wear a clean cloth face covering that securely covers both your nose and mouth when in contact with other people not in your household.

The City encourages residents to remain home as much as is practical and limit close contact with others outside of a household. Additionally, people 65 years old or older and all people of any age with underlying health conditions should remain at home whenever possible; people in these categories should only leave their residences to seek medical care, exercise, or obtain food or other necessities.

West Hollywood City Hall is currently closed to the public and has suspended all in-person transactions. Most public City buildings, playgrounds, and facilities remain closed. City Hall remains accessible for business and essential services with transactions to be conducted by phone (323) 848-6400 and via the City’s website at www.weho.org.

The City of West Hollywood coronavirus updates are available at www.weho.org/coronavirus and the City encourages community members to follow @wehocity on Twitter and Facebook and Instagram and turn on notifications for up-to-date information regarding details in the City of West Hollywood.

To view essential-business City meetings, tune in to WeHoTV at:

• www.weho.org/wehotv
• www.youtube.com/wehotv
• Spectrum Channel 10 (in West Hollywood)
• AT&T U-verse Channel 99 (in Southern California)
• SmartTV Apps: AndroidTV; AppleTV; FireTV; and Roku

For notifications by email, subscribe to the City’s E-Notifications at www.weho.org/email. Visit the City’s event and meetings calendar at www.weho.org/calendar and news archive at www.weho.org/news. To receive urgent updates to your phone by text and to your email, text your ZIP code to 888-777.

For updates and information about the current numbers of COVID-19 cases in the United States and in Los Angeles County, the spread of the virus, severity, treatments, precautions, and other important public health information in multiple languages, please visit websites for:

• Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) www.publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

For reporters and members of the media seeking additional information about COVID-19 in Los Angeles County, please contact the LA County Department of Public Health Chief Communications Officer, Carl A. Kemp, at (213) 240-8144 or media@ph.lacounty.gov.

For reporters and members of the media seeking additional information about the City of West Hollywood, please contact the City of West Hollywood’s Public Information Officer, Sheri A. Lunn, at (323) 848-6391 or slunn@weho.org.

This press release was produced by the City of West Hollywood. The views expressed here are the author’s own.