Countywide COVID-19 cases approaching 100,000
By Sam Catanzaro
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered the closure of Los Angeles County bars citing the increasing spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
“Due to the rising spread of #COVID19, CA is ordering bars to close in Fresno, Imperial, Kern, Kings, Los Angeles, San Joaquin, and Tulare, while recommending they close in Contra Costa, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Stanislaus, & Ventura,” Newsom wrote in a Tweet Sunday afternoon.
The State-mandated closing comes as the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) is reporting significant increases in COVID-19 hospitalizations and the testing positivity rate. In Los Angeles County, there are 1,717 people currently hospitalized, higher than the 1,350 to 1,450 daily hospitalizations seen in recent weeks. According to Public Health, testing results are available for over 1,056,000 individuals, with 9 pecent of people testing positive. The cumulative positivity rate has increased from 8 percent to 9 percent, and the 7-day average of the daily positivity rate has increased from 5.8 percent two weeks ago to 8.7 percent today.
On Sunday Public Health confirmed 20 new deaths and 2,542 new cases of COVID-19. In Santa Monica, there have been 398 cases and 29 deaths among residents. Countywide there have been 97,894 cases and 3,305 deaths.
“Los Angeles County will heed Gov. Gavin Newsom’s directive and bars in Los Angeles County must close today. The County Health Officer Order will be amended today to require that all bars, breweries, brew pubs, pubs, wineries and tasting rooms in L.A. County close unless they are offering sit-down dine-in meals. This includes closing bar areas in restaurants,” Los Angeles County said in a statement. “There has been a sharp increase in new 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 covering to drink while they may be socializing with people not in their households.”
