LA County Safer-at-Home order likely to be issued as early as Sunday as COVID cases rise
LOS ANGELES - As COVID-19 cases continue to rise, Los Angeles County health officials could impose another Safer-at-Home order by next week.
If issued, the order is reported to go into effect as early as Sunday.
This order allows only essential workers to leave their homes, as well as people accessing essential services.
This comes as LA County reported more than 5,000 new COVID-19 infections Thursday, the highest daily number since the start of the pandemic.
Los Angeles County Health Officer Dr. Muntu Davis says the county's surging numbers have now exceeded the spike seen in mid-summer, jumping 68% since the end of October, compared to a 43% increase that occurred between mid-June and early July.
LA County sees record number of COVID-19 cases
Los Angeles County reported more than 5,000 new COVID-19 infections, the highest daily number since the start of the pandemic, and the county's health officer warned that if the surge persists, a strict stay-at-home order could be in place by next week.
Davis said that with Thursday's record case number, the county now has a two-day average of about 4,500 cases -- the threshold for implementing the stay-at-home restrictions.
Starting Friday, November 20, the county will impose increased restrictions on business and social activity.
Restaurants, bars and other non-essential businesses have been ordered to close between the hours of 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. to limit the number of people inside their establishments.
Other restrictions set to take effect Friday are:
-- indoor non-essential businesses such as retail stores, offices and personal care services will be limited to 25% occupancy;
-- outdoor service at restaurants, wineries and breweries will be limited to 50% of the maximum outdoor capacity;
-- outdoor cardrooms, miniature golf sites, go-kart tracks and batting cages will be limited to 50% of maximum outdoor capacity;
-- customers at personal-care businesses must make advance appointments, and no services that require customers to remove their face masks can be offered; and
-- outdoor gatherings must be limited to no more than 15 people from a maximum of three households.
This move comes just after California issued a limited stay-at-home order for all counties in the purple tier… that includes all of Southern California.
RELATED: California issues 'limited' stay-at-home order for counties in purple tier, including all of SoCal
Dr. Christina Ghaly, the county's director of health services, stressed that current projections indicate the county will see its highest number of hospitalizations since the pandemic began in the next four weeks, potentially outpacing hospital capacity.
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