LA County enacts new stay-at-home order; more than 4,500 new cases

LOS ANGELES  – Los Angeles County health officials reported 4,544 new COVID-19 cases and 24 more deaths Friday, and new safety orders — including a stay-at-home order — will go into effect as a result.

The new measures will go into effect on Monday and remain until December 20, according to Los Angeles County Public Health. Residents are advised to stay home as much as possible and always wear a face covering over their nose and mouth when outside their household and around others.

“With the recent surge of COVID-19 across our community, we must take additional safety measures to reduce the risk of illness and death from this terrible virus and protect our healthcare system,” said Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer.

The additional safety modifications in the order include the following changes to the existing Health Officer Order:

— Gatherings: all public and private gatherings with individuals not in your household are prohibited, except for church services and protests, which are constitutionally protected rights.

— Occupancy limits at various businesses; all individuals at these sites are required to wear face coverings and keep at least 6 feet of distance:

— Essential retail: 35% maximum occupancy;

— Nonessential retail (includes indoor malls): 20% maximum occupancy;

— Personal care services: 20% maximum occupancy;

— Libraries: 20% maximum occupancy;

— Fitness centers operating outdoors: 50% maximum occupancy;

— Museums galleries, zoos, aquariums, botanical gardens operating outdoors: 50% maximum occupancy;

— Mini-golf, batting cages, go-kart racing operating outdoors: 50% maximum occupancy;

— Outdoor recreation activities all which require face coverings (except for swimming) and distancing: Beaches, trails and parks remain open; gatherings at these sites with members outside your household are prohibited. Golf courses, tennis courts, pickleball, archery ranges, skate parks, bike parks and community gardens remain open for individuals or members of a single household. Pools that serve more than one household may open only for regulated lap swimming with one person per lane. Drive-in movies/events/car parades are permitted provided occupants in each car are members of one household.

— Schools: All schools and day camps remain open adhering to reopening protocols. K-12 Schools and Day Camps with an outbreak (3 cases or more over 14 days) should close for 14 days.

— Closed nonessential businesses/activities:

— Playgrounds (with the exception of playgrounds at childcare and schools;

— Cardrooms;

— Restaurants, bars, breweries and wineries remain closed for in- person dining and drinking because of the high rates of transmission in the community, as customers are not wearing face coverings, which results in an increased chance of transmission of the virus. Restaurants, wineries and breweries remain open for pick-up, delivery and take-out. Breweries and wineries remain open for retail sales at 20% occupancy.

There are 1,893 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized and 24% of these people are in the ICU. On October 27, one month ago, there were 747 people hospitalized with COVID-19.

The five-day average of new cases is now at 4,751.

To date, Public Health has identified 387,793 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County and a total of 7,604 deaths. View the latest detailed report by city and demographics here.

According to current county estimates, every COVID-19 patient in the county is passing the virus to an average of 1.27 people — the highest transmission rate the county has seen since March, before any safety protocols such as face coverings and social distancing were in place.

Based on that transmission rate, health officials estimate one of every 145 people in the county are now infected with the virus and transmitting it to others.

“This doesn’t include people that are currently hospitalized or isolated at home,” county Health Services Director Dr. Christina Ghaly said. “This is the estimate of people that are out and about and infecting others. They may not know they’re infected. They may know they’re infected and not be isolating. But they’re out there and they’re exposing other people to the virus.”

Ghaly said the number of people hospitalized due to the virus has jumped by 70% in the past two weeks, with the county now averaging about 300 new admissions daily.

“Based on the current estimate for (the virus transmission rate) and assuming that there’s no change in people’s behavior that would affect transmissions, there will likely be shortages in the number of hospital beds, and especially in ICU beds or intensive-care unit beds, over the next two to four weeks,” she said.

Ghaly noted that given the current transmission rate, the number of hospitalized patients could double in two weeks, and quadruple in a month. She said hospitals have “surge” plans to increase the number of beds, but the availability of health care workers to staff those beds and treat patients is more limited.

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