LA County might stay home till Aug.
The largest county in the nation is expected to extend stay-at-home orders into August, jeopardizing the chances of multiple sports leagues to resume or begin seasons in a uniform fashion.
Los Angeles County – home to the Lakers, Clippers, Rams, Chargers, Kings, Dodgers, MLB’s All-Star Game, Sparks, Galaxy, Los Angeles FC, Southern California and UCLA – will “with all certainty” extend stay-at-home orders for the next three months, county health director Barbara Ferrer told a board of supervisors meeting Tuesday.
That would extend past a hoped-for early July start MLB has proposed to the MLB Players’ Association, in addition to the July 14 All-Star Game, which was likely to be postponed, at Dodger Stadium.
California has been home to some of the earliest and strictest stay-at-home orders since the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated in March. Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday eased the state into what he called “early Stage 2” reopening, most notably allowing for retail curbside pickup and delivery. Stage 3, which includes sports facilities opening for games without fans, was expected to be a more rigorous leap, though Newsom allowed that there might be variance among individual counties.
But it’s not likely the most important one will seek to exercise that flexibility. Ferrer said Tuesday that the only factor that could lift the stay-home order is a “dramatic change to the virus and tools at hand.”
It seemed likely that were MLB to hit its goal of an early July start, some of its teams might be forced to relocate to another city or its spring training site, which in the Dodgers’ case is in Phoenix.
This extension could encroach on football teams’ practice capacity, affecting USC and UCLA. The Rams’ camp is located in Thousand Oaks, just over the border in Ventura County, and the Chargers train in Orange County.