Los Angeles City Mayor Eric Garcetti provided updates behind the COVID-19 outbreak. The numbers have been in fluctuation since the reopening of different sectors. Los Angeles has seen an increase in communal transmission, public officials stress the consistency in keeping social distance and maintaining strict hygienic practices. Garcetti disclosed precautionary steps the city will take in order to stop the spread and create restorative energy around the city’s economic gap.
L.A. has seen a resurgence of outdoor activity, there has been added testing sites to handle the projected rise in positive cases. Gradually, Los Angeles has been opening different sectors in the work industry with the modified health directives. They serve as the armor against the spread of COVID-19 between guests and staff members. Small businesses are advised to open only when they are aligned with the public health mandates.
“Its time for us to have a collective course correction, to make sure all of the work that we’ve done, the days and the weeks and the months to saving lives was not for nothing.” The mayor continued to reaffirm the focus is on the lives and livelihoods of Angelenos. Tapping into the importance of the economic recovery and addressing the inequalities within underserved communities.
Over 100,000 positive cases have been confirmed within Los Angeles. 1 out of 100 positive cases are found within the county and the numbers continue to grow. There is an estimation of 1 out of 140 people are currently infectious with COVID-19. Projected numbers foresee and escalation in that ratio, to 1 out of 70 people.
The infection rate is increasing, climbing towards the ratio of 1.2. Prior to the resurgence of outdoor activity, the ratio reflected less than one person contracting coronavirus from another person. The county public health department also tracks the positivity rate of COVID-19 test results, initially it was at 4.6% in late May and now it is at 8.7%. The city is seeing a regression in staying compliant with the state of California COVID-19 County indicators. Additionally, there has been an infection increase in younger people between the ages 18-40.
The city is closely monitoring the hospital capacity, making sure medical facilities are not overwhelmed. As it stands, hospital admittance has increased over 20%. This has been the highest its been since the outbreak of the pandemic. This past week over 18,000 people were tested, and one million Angelenos in total have been tested for COVID-19.
In additional to ramping up testing facilities, there was an increase of 300 staff members, brought on board to assist with the workload of new testing sites. The mayor emphasized; it is now time for a pause. Bars are retracting their accessibility and beaches, piers, and bike paths will be closed over the 4th of July weekend. Fire work displays have been prohibited to discourage gatherings; the mayor empathized with the adjustments made to the holiday this year but reiterated the focus is to save lives.
Health inspections are becoming more assertive in light of the increased rate, creating mandates that must be followed in order to continue business. There is a hard pause for opening any more businesses; movie theaters, bowling alleys, arcades, playgrounds, concert halls, theme parks, and other entertainment venues will remain close until the number of positive cases consistently decline. The mayor made it clear, the trend of positive cases are on the rise.
“Every day we continue to learn more about this novel coronavirus, I read today that it can infect the cells in our brain and how Wuhan, China over a quarter of folks infected had also the infection in their brains.” Garcetti emphasized using this information to make tactical changes to evolve the city’s public health and reinovate the reality the city is facing together.
