c-title pmc-u-font-size-20 pmc-u-font-size-38@tablet pmc-u-font-size-46@desktop-xl u-text-align-center@mobile-max u-letter-spacing-0025 pmc-u-line-height-normal u-line-height-45@tablet pmc-u-padding-t-1 pmc-u-padding-t-050@mobile-max”>Los Angeles County Coronavirus Update: Local Officials Say Closure Order Includes All Offices In “Non-Critical” Sectors
By Tom Tapp
Deputy Managing Editor
More Stories By Tom
July 13, 2020 1:59pm
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Allen J Schaben/Shutterstock
On Monday, California Governor Gavin Newsom, citing rising coronavirus numbers, ordered indoor operations for restaurants, movie theaters, wineries, zoos, fitness centers, places of worship, indoor protests, tattoo shops, nail and hair salons and indoor malls to close in Southern California. Bars must close all operations.
The governor announced that he is requiring all California counties to close indoor operations for their restaurants, movie theaters, wineries, zoos and bars.
NEW: #COVID19 cases continue to spread at alarming rates.
CA is now closing indoor operations STATEWIDE for:
-Restaurants
-Wineries
-Movie theaters, family entertainment
-Zoos, museums
-Cardrooms
Bars must close ALL operations.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) July 13, 2020
Southern California counties face additional specific closure orders, as outlined in Newsom’s tweet below.
NEW: As #COVID19 cases and hospitalizations continue to rise, 30 counties will now be required to CLOSE INDOOR OPERATIONS for:
-Fitness Centers
-Places of Worship
-Offices for Non-Critical Sectors
-Personal Care Services
-Hair Salons and Barbershops
-Malls
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) July 13, 2020
Just minutes later, Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer announced that the indoor closure list includes “offices for all non-critical sectors.”
That comes after the health department closed a Downtown L.A. clothing factory over the weekend after 300 of its employees became infected.
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To help slow the spread of #COVID19, the following sectors must stop indoor operations effective July 13. Learn more at https://t.co/nvJN7HPEk0 pic.twitter.com/cjdaAw5czr
— Los Angeles County (@CountyofLA) July 13, 2020
Ferrer announced 13 additional deaths on Monday, for a total of 3,822 in L.A. County. She then went on to emphasize that the recent decline in deaths was likely due to a decline in COVID-related fatalities in skilled nursing homes. Deaths in the outside world, she noted, had not fallen. Ferrer said she expected the number of deaths among the populace-at-large to rise, given that deaths are a lagging indictor.
“Everything is pointing toward an alarming trend,” said Ferrer. “While our death rate has been relatively stable, we will soon see corresponding increases in deaths.”
According to the county health department, 2,593 new COPVID-19 cases had been discovered in the past 24-hours, for a total 136,129.
COVID-19 Daily Update:
July 13, 2020
Cases: 2,593 (136,129 total)
Deaths: 13 (3,822 total)
Current Hospitalizations: 2,056 pic.twitter.com/dW6cK7DKM4
— LA Public Health (@lapublichealth) July 13, 2020
The department did not immediately release test positivity numbers or numbers of COVID patients in hospital and ICU beds, but she did say admissions are happening “at a much higher rate.”
The latter is especially important, since the department revealed on Friday that there were only 113 hospital beds available in the county, not including potential surge beds that could be pressed into service. Extrapolation from Sunday’s report seems to indicate that that total had dwindled even further.
Newsom, for his part, indicated concern about those numbers. “This continues to be a disease that puts people in our ICUs and our hospitals,” he said, “and is currently putting a strain on our hospital system and our ICUs.”
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