Coronavirus deaths in California near 3,000
LOS ANGELES — California will likely surpass 3,000 coronavirus-linked deaths and could top 75,000 confirmed cases by the end of the day.
Despite the steady increase in the number of COVID-19 infections and fatalities, the state is starting to cautiously lift restrictions put in place to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
The result has been a pandemic patchwork.
Some businesses have been allowed to open while others remain shuttered. A few areas are requiring masks to be worn anytime residents leave their homes. More than a dozen counties are moving toward something resembling normalcy, while others are firmly standing by stayat-home orders and other coronavirus restrictions.
As California moves into what Gov. Gavin Newsom has deemed Phase 2 of the state’s reopening plan, it has become possible for counties to go further in terms of opening businesses, provided they meet certain criteria.
Newsom said this week that restaurants and shopping malls can reopen in counties that meet state standards for testing and reductions in coronavirus cases, but all businesses will have to abide by state guidelines for physical distancing and cleaning regimens. Counties also must have adequate testing and hospital capacity and the ability to trace those who have been in contact with ill people.
Before businesses can reopen, a county must complete a risk assessment and develop protection plans that include training employees in how to limit the spread of the virus, providing screenings of workers and establishing disinfection protocols and physical-distancing guidelines.
Although the state’s phased reopening started Friday — with clothing stores, sporting goods retailers, bookstores, music stores, toy stores and florists able to provide curbside service — only more rural, less-populated reaches of the state have successfully petitioned to open faster.
As of Thursday morning, the state said 18 counties had met conditions to reopen more fully: Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, El Dorado, Glenn, Lassen, Nevada, Mariposa, Placer, Plumas, San Benito, Shasta, Sierra, Sutter, Tehama, Tuolumne and Yuba.
The benchmarks necessary to reopen remain out of reach for most urban areas. A Times data analysis last week found that 95% of Californians live in counties that don’t meet two key thresholds: a cessation of COVID-19 deaths in the previous 14 days and no more than one case per 10,000 residents in that same period.
In Los Angeles County, which remains the hotbed of California’s coronavirus outbreak, officials are allowing the limited reopening of thousands more retail shops and manufacturing companies, even while extending the local stay-athome order indefinitely.
L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti also announced Wednesday evening that all Angelenos, except for small children and those with certain disabilities, would be required to wear face coverings outside their homes.