The actions, outlined in a memo by 4 members of the City Council, come during the 6th day of protests calling for police reforms after video showed a white police officer suffocating George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25.
The state requires no more than an average 5% daily increase in hospitalizations over a 7-day period. Long Beach has revised up its numbers since submitting an application.
To be clear, the city’s curfew requirements stand, regardless of the county’s emergency messages.
The governor and county leaders held media briefings as they’ve done for more than two months during the health pandemic, but on Monday there was scant mention of COVID-19.
The testing site at Cabrillo High School, which is run by the city, is the only site that will test anyone who wants a test. The other 5 sites in the city will still be reserved for essential workers or those with symptoms.
The announcement comes after President Donald Trump took an acrimonious tone toward governors who have not considered houses of worship as “essential.”
Three more people also died of the virus, bringing the city’s death toll to 68, the majority of which are linked to long-term care facilities.
The city, which is facing at least a $41 million budget shortfall this fiscal year, would have received as much as $80 million from the federal government—but fell about 30,000 residents short of the threshold to receive these funds set aside for big cities.
Long Beach on Thursday reported a slightly higher hospitalization rate for COVID-19—a measure officials say they are watching closely as beaches and businesses begin to reopen.
At this point, the announcement does not apply to Long Beach, which sets its own rules because it has its own health department. But the city has often swiftly followed the county’s example in what’s allowed.
