Shoppers Flock To LA's Reopened Malls Under Cloud Of Coronavirus

LOS ANGELES, CA — Shoppers flocked to newly reopened shopping malls Thursday as Los Angeles slowly eases shutdown orders and the coronavirus death toll continues to climb with 48 additional deaths reported across the county.

The county's death toll has reached 2,241, and health officials announced another 1,180 confirmed cases of the illness Thursday, bringing the countywide total to 49,860. The rate of new cases has remained stubbornly persistent in recent weeks after declining from the outbreak's peak. Residents and health officials are cautiously waiting to see what impact the loosened restrictions will have on the county's rate of new cases. While shopping malls such as the Citadel Outlets in Commerce and the Glendale Galleria reopened Thursday, Los Angeles County still did not have the state's approval for return of dine-in restaurants and hair salons. Much will depend on the community's willingness to remain steadfast in wearing masks and socially distancing.

Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer outlined the stakes.

“There is a lot at stake as we reopen,” she said. “More people being around one another can result in more transmission of COVID-19, just more cases and, likely, more hospitalizations and deaths. This is why it couldn’t be more important for us to take care of each other when we’re out of our homes.”

According to the Los Angeles Times, some of the earliest county's to relax restrictions statewide have seen an uptick in the number of new cases, prompting officials to slow or reverse the reopening measures.

In Los Angeles, residents were eager to get out and explore the newly reopened malls Thursday. Thousands of residents weary of curbside-only shopping -- or perhaps just looking for a chance to get out of the house -- made their way to malls such as the Citadel Outlets in Commerce and the Glendale Galleria Thursday, taking advantage of the newly reopened retail centers.

Only select stores inside the malls were open as of Thursday, and operating hours were limited. But that didn't keep the public away.

A woman shopping at the Citadel Outlets told Fox11 she was surprised at the crowd that showed up, but she felt comfortable inside thanks to capacity controls and cleaning efforts.

"I love the fact that they're sanitizing after every customer," she said.

In line with state regulations, Los Angeles County issued a revised health order on Tuesday, allowing retail establishments to resume in-store shopping by customers. It also cleared the way for store inside indoor shopping malls to reopen, along with offices, flea markets, swap meets, drive-in movie theaters and houses of worship.

The loosening of restrictions prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic was expressed clearly by the county, which changed the name of its health officer order from "Safer at Home" to "Safer at Work and in the Community."

The order, however, continues to require residents to wear cloth face coverings when interacting with people outside their own households. It also calls for continued social-distancing. Reopened businesses also must adhere to strict safety protocols, requiring face coverings, limited capacity inside stores and hand-washing and -sanitizing stations.

Other Southland shopping malls are expected to reopen over the coming days. The Beverly Center will reopen Friday, and Westfield Century City will open Saturday.

Los Angeles County officials this week submitted a request to the state for a local "variance," which would allow the county to move deeper into California's "roadmap" for restarting the economy. Most notably, the variance would allow the county to authorize the reopening of hair salons and restaurants for dine-in service.

It was not immediately clear how long it will take the state to review the county's application for the variance.

Los Angeles is one of only about a dozen counties in the state not to be given such a variance. The state issues them based on a series of criteria, such as coronavirus case rates and deaths, availability of hospital space, testing capacity and ability to trace contacts of confirmed patients.

The county has been stymied in its effort to obtain a variance, since it remains home to about half of the state's confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths. But health officials said this week that even though more cases and deaths are being reported, the rates are dropping, along with the number of people hospitalized on a daily basis.

"We feel very confident, and we feel very confident because all of the work everybody has already done to get us here," county public health director Barbara Ferrer said Wednesday. "Hospitalizations are down. Deaths are down. The number of cases is up but that's a good thing ... because it means a lot more people are getting tested, but our positivity rate is also down.

"We do have to all go carefully, and by that I mean we all have to be diligent about doing whatever we can do to protect each other. But yes, I feel confident we're moving forward in a manner that's very respectful of the resources we have here and the need, in fact, for us to be on a reopening, safer-in-the-community-safer-at-work journey, but we have to be on this journey together."

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on the Studio City Patch