Meanwhile, a decision is expected Thursday on whether Los Angeles County will actually reopen all businesses below the less restrictive ‘red’ tier, particularly indoor dining in restaurants.
According to a plan announced last week, once the state hits the 2 million dose milestone in low-income communities, the state’s “ Blueprint for a Safer Economy ” that regulates corporate reopening will be adjusted, making it easier for counties moves through the four-level matrix.
As of Wednesday, the state had administered 1,926,968 doses in severely affected communities, and Newsom said the 2 million mark will be reached by Friday. When that figure is reached, counties can step out of the blueprint’s most restrictive ‘purple’ tier when their average daily number of new COVID-19 infections reaches 10 per 100,000 residents – a looser standard than the current 7 per 100,000 residents.
Under the new guidelines, Los Angeles and Orange counties would both be immediately eligible to transition to the less restrictive “red” level, as they are both below the norm of 10 per 100,000 for two weeks. The new number of cases in Los Angeles County is currently 5.2 per 100,000 residents, while in Orange County it is 6 per 100,000.
The ‘red’ layer allows provinces to reopen indoor restaurants, fitness centers and cinemas, while also increasing the capacity of shops and shopping centers.
“Southern California, you’ll benefit from this,” Newsom said Wednesday during a visit to a mobile vaccination clinic in South Gate. In particular, LA will be a big beneficiary of this new statistic that will likely be met on Friday. And as you move through the weekend into the next week, you will see more activity, more relaxation of the levels. That’s encouraging. and I hope people will be excited about what this means to move forward as we have a range of other barriers and other goals that will allow us to move forward with greater clarity, more conviction and more confidence as we progress through the next steps will go for weeks and months to come. ”
RELATED: Newsom Says State Is About To Meet Vaccination Goal Could Allow Most SoCal Counties To Switch To Red Levels
Barbara Ferrer, Los Angeles County’s director of public health, said it will be 48 hours after the state announces the vaccination threshold has been reached for the county to officially move to the ‘red’ level. If the target is reached by Friday, as Newsom announced, the county could advance on Sunday.
The idea behind the 2 million dose threshold is to ensure that vaccines are distributed evenly across the state so that low-income communities disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic are not overlooked in the vaccination efforts . Newsom has ordered 40% of the state’s vaccine stockpile be reserved to ensure equity in the distribution process.
Once Los Angeles County advances to the “ red ” level, it’s up to district officials to decide whether to fully adhere to the state’s guidelines for business reopening, or to enforce stricter regulations. Ferrer hinted this week that the county might consider considering she repeatedly referred this week to a recent federal study that found that personal dining carries a greater risk of spreading COVID-19, an indication that the county may not be able to restart immediately. give permission to dine indoors.
When asked on Wednesday whether indoor dining is allowed, Ferrer was noncommittal and said talks with the board of regulators and the restaurant industry were underway. But she said the county plans to release “ red ” operational guidelines for restaurants, movie theaters and other businesses on Thursday, so “ we have a definitive answer to that. ”
“We’re looking at what’s happening in the state, we’re looking at what we’ve learned about what can create as much security as possible when people are indoors,” she said.
The state’s ‘red’ guidelines allow indoor dining at 25% of capacity, but counties may impose stricter regulations. The level also allows indoor fitness centers with 10% of the capacity and cinemas, museums and aquariums with 25%. It also allows theme parks such as Disneyland in Orange County and Universal Studios Hollywood in Los Angeles County to reopen at 15% capacity, with in-state visitors only.
On Tuesday, two members of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors said they support full alignment with state guidelines, including indoor dining.
“I am quite strongly convinced that I think we should align with the state reopening guidelines,” said supervisor Janice Hahn. “… I think being different from that at the moment would cause confusion and probably a lot of anger, because there are so many locations, entities, that have really suffered and are waiting to get some more of these restrictions lifted.
“Especially when we talk about the reopening of Disneyland with limited capacity, there will be personal fans on opening day at Dodger Stadium,” she said. “… But I really hope we can stay aligned so that there is no confusion from one province to another.”
RELATED: LA County Could Hit the Red Level This Weekend, But Will Indoor Dining Return?
Supervisor Kathryn Barger agreed with Hahn, saying LA County should align its public health order with the state and adjacent counties.
“I believe clarity and consistency leads to the highest compliance rates,” said Barger, adding that she wanted to avoid local residents traveling to other countries with fewer restrictions.
Ferrer warned the board that while cases and levels of test positivity have declined sharply in recent weeks, things could easily deteriorate if residents become lax about infection control measures.
“This is the month I would say – the month of March, early April – when we need to be extremely careful,” she said. ‘Because we’ve been here before. We have been here with reopenings. We’ve been here on trips around Thanksgiving and Christmas. We’ve seen what happens around holidays when we’re not really careful. … We need to keep everyone alive now so they can get vaccinated and stay alive. So this would be a time for extreme caution. ”
She specifically pointed out the spread of variants of the virus that causes COVID-19, which can spread more easily from person to person. Ferrer said the variant first identified in the UK has expanded its reach in Los Angeles County and is now believed to be responsible for 10% of all COVID cases in the county.
“There is also growing concern about a global fourth wave of COVID-19, as the number of cases started to increase in the last week of February, after six weeks of decline, especially in Europe,” she said.
Ferrer also noted that although the county received its largest allotment of the COVID-19 vaccine to date this week, with more than 300,000 doses, that number is expected to decline as the county does not receive a single dose of the new Johnson dose. with a single dose. & Johnson vaccine for the next two weeks due to a manufacturing and manufacturing problem. ”
“Essentially, Johnson & Johnson immediately gave away everything they had and now we’ll wait a little bit until they have more to distribute,” she said.
The decline in vaccine supply will coincide with the expansion of vaccine availability next Monday to people 16 and older with an underlying health condition that puts them at risk of serious illness or death from COVID-19. She said on Wednesday that the right to eligibility has also expanded to include custodial janitors, public transportation and ground staff at the airport, along with social workers handling cases of violence and abuse, and foster parents providing emergency housing for young people.
Ferrer urged people to be patient when making vaccination appointments because of the ongoing vaccine shortage and the growing number of people eligible for the injections. She urged people with underlying health conditions to contact their doctors to see if they can arrange injections through their healthcare provider.
On Wednesday, the county reported a further 119 COVID-19 deaths, although five of those fatalities were announced by health officials in Long Beach on Tuesday. Long Beach reported one more death on Wednesday afternoon, while Pasadena added two. The new deaths raised the nationwide death toll from the entire pandemic to 22,216.
Another 1,514 cases were announced by the county, although Ferrer said that number included a “ few hundred ” cases attributed to a reporting backlog. Long Beach reported 22 cases on Wednesday, and Pasadena announced five. The new cases increased the cumulative pandemic total to 1,206,740.
According to state figures, as of Monday, 1,056 people had been hospitalized for COVID, with 309 people in intensive care.
On Friday, 2,415,460 doses of COVID vaccine were administered in the province. That includes 814,593 second doses, which represents the number
people who have been fully vaccinated.
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