California counties seeking to reopen

LOS ANGELES — Californians traveling between county lines may soon need a field guide to assess coronavirus restrictions in various parts of the state as permissions to reopen continue to fluctuate day by day.

The state has surpassed 80,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 3,200 deaths. Although the numbers continue to increase overall, the case count has started to taper off in some areas.

So far, 19 rural counties in Northern California — representing about 4.5% of the state’s population — have contained the virus enough to ease stay-athome restrictions beyond the allowances of more urban areas, where the virus remains active.

Los Angeles County, for example, accounts for the largest bulk of the state’s tallied infections, with more than 38,000 cases, and accounts for more than half of the state’s death toll.

As county officials continue to slowly lift stay-athome restrictions by easing modifications on businesses to allow for curbside services and reopening trails, parks and active recreation areas at beaches, they say social distancing practices are still needed. Face masks are required at all businesses and throughout the city of Los Angeles, and in-person gatherings are still not permitted.

Los Angeles County is the state’s most populous, with 10 million people. But while the county’s numbers continue to climb, some cities within it are less infected by the virus and hope to see further modifications to the county’s stay-at-home order.

The cities of Santa Clarita, Lancaster and Palmdale have asked the county for permission to reopen more fully.

It’s unclear whether Gov. Gavin Newsom’s statewide order would allow such an action, Supervisor Kathryn Barger said Friday. But the move signifies a growing restlessness felt by many throughout the state.

While the counties of Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego — four of the top five counties hit hardest by the virus — continue to report new cases, officials are lobbying to more extensively reopen their economies.

Last week, Orange County executive officer Frank Kim said that waiting to see no more than one death over a 14-day period — a guideline presented last week by Newsom for counties to reopen — would be a “restrictive, difficult measure for us to overcome.” Officials are instead focused on a stable or steady decline to guide their reopening policy.