Los Angeles County goes on lockdown due to rising COVID-19 case rate

Andrew Sheeler
·2 min read

The nation’s most populous county is going on lockdown.

Skyrocketing COVID-19 case numbers have triggered a mandatory three-week “Safer at Home” order for Los Angeles County. The lockdown begins on Monday and lasts through Dec. 20.

The order is tougher than anything imposed in California since March, when Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a stay-at-home order that applied to the entire state. The Los Angeles County order doesn’t go as far as Newsom’s order, as it still allows the public to utilize non-essential retail, such as malls, and personal care services, such as nail salons, at limited capacity.

The county on Friday exceeded 4,500 new cases, with a five-day average of 4,751 cases; the county has also recorded 24 new deaths, according to a statement from county of Los Angeles Public Health.

“To those who recently lost loved ones from COVID-19, we send you wishes for healing and peace,” said Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer in a statement. “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. These targeted measures are in effect for the next three weeks and still allow for many essential and non-essential activities where residents are always masked and distanced.”

The mandatory order prohibits all public and private gatherings with people from different households, with the exception of church gatherings and protests.

In addition, the county is imposing a mandatory 10 p.m.-to-6 a.m. curfew, with essential workers exempt. The state already instituted a statewide curfew in all counties in the purple tier, where the coronavirus is considered “widespread.”

The mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti, in a tweet Friday, implored the public to stay at home.

“Two months ago, it was projected that one in every 880 L.A. County residents were infected with COVID-19. Now, it’s estimated it’s one in every 145. We have to act now to slow the spread. Please stay home as much as possible,” Garcetti wrote.