Hair salons, restaurants may reopen
Guidelines required as recovery plan continues
Los Angeles County residents may get haircuts and enjoy a meal in restaurants again after the state on Friday approved a variance to allow the county to move more quickly through the recovery plan for the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.
The decision allows for hair salons and barbershops to immediately reopen and restaurants to allow diners to be seated, although with modifications in place to accommodate public health needs.
“Today’s announcement by the state represents monumental progress for Los Angeles County as we join the vast majority of other regions in California on the path toward reopening and recovery,” said Kathryn Barger, chair of the Board of Supervisors. “I am grateful to our state and local partners for their collaboration in helping us transition to being Safer at Work and Safer in our Communities.”
Businesses will have to follow guidelines set forth by the Los Angeles County Public Health Department to ensure the safety of employees and customers.
For hair salons and barbershops, these measures include screening customers and employees for coughs and fevers and asking customers to reschedule if they feel sick; employees and clients wearing face coverings; physical distancing; and serving only one customer at a time.
For restaurants to allow dine-in service, many of the same rules apply, along with prioritizing outdoor seating and curbside pickup; recommending reservations to control the number of customers; asking patrons to wait for their tables in their
cars or otherwise outside the restaurant to avoid crowding; and requiring diners to wear face coverings when not eating.
Restaurants will be restricted to serving 60% of their occupancy capacity for the next three weeks, and bars will remain closed.
Nail salons and spas services are still closed, as are gyms and fitness centers; indoor entertainment venues, including movie theaters, bowling alleys, concert halls, stadiums, gaming faculties and theme parks; indoor museums, galleries and zoos; and beach piers.
The county is progressing toward lifting more restrictions as a result of demonstrating that earlier measures did “flatten the curve” by slowing the virus’ spread and preserving hospital capacity, officials said.
That does not mean the virus is no longer a threat, however. As more people go back to work, shopping and recreating, there will be more contact with others and more opportunities for infection to spread than while people were in relative isolation.
“There’s a great deal at stake in the reopening,” Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said. “It’s important to understand that we all need to do our part as we go through our recovery journey to take care of each other. Practicing physical distancing and wearing a cloth face covering when you are out and about around other people is absolutely what we have to offer each other in order to protect ourselves from this virus.” As a marker for where Los Angeles County stands, on Friday 1,824 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 were reported, along with an additional 50 deaths attributed to the virus.
The new case number includes a backlog of about 500 cases the county just received from a single laboratory, Ferrer said.
Friday’s statistics bring the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases to 51,562 countywide and deaths to 2,290 countywide.
Confirmed cases reported in the Antelope Valley now total 1,471, up 71 cases since Wednesday, the last time county officials held a briefing, according to public health officials.
Palmdale continues to report the greatest number of COVID-19 cases in the Valley, with 720, followed by Lancaster with 574.
Some of the Lancaster tally may include the California State Prison, where 49 staff and 127 inmates have tested positive for the virus, according to public health officials.
In the unincorporated communities, Quartz Hill reported 44 cases on Friday, Lake Los Angeles 29, Littlerock/Pearblossom reported 20, Sun Village 18, Littlerock 14, and Acton had 11 cases.
Agua Dulce reported eight cases, Desert View Highlands and White Fence Farms reported six cases each and the unincorporated areas of North Lancaster and Palmdale reported five and four cases, respectively, while Elizabeth Lake had three cases on Friday.
Del Sur, Leona Valley, Littlerock/Juniper Hills, Pearblossom/Llano and West Antelope Valley each reported two cases.
Lake Hughes, Anaverde, High Vista, South Antelope Valley and Llano each reported a single case, according to public health officials.
Deaths attributed to COVID-19 in the Antelope Valley numbered 42 on Friday, an increase of one since the Wednesday report.
As with confirmed cases, most were in Palmdale and Lancaster, with 16 and 12 deaths, respectively.
Additionally, the unincorporated community of Quartz Hill reported nine deaths, two were reported in Lake Los Angeles and a singe death each in Acton, Del Sur and Desert View Highlands.
Of the more than 51,000 people countywide who have tested positive for the virus, 6,430 have been hospitalized at some point, or 12% of all cases. Currently, 1,462 people are being treated in hospitals for the virus, with 27% of these patients in intensive care and 20% on ventilators.
The hospitalization numbers have been steadily declining for the past two weeks, Ferrer said.