Los Angeles county health officials on Wednesday announced they would allow schools to offer in-person services to students with special needs as long as re-opening protocols are followed.
The announcement was included in new health orders that will also allow hair salons and barber shops to reopen indoor services with a 25% capacity immediately. County officials are still encouraging hair salons and barber shops to keep cutting hair outside and to use their 25% occupancy allowance for services that can only be done inside.
Schools can begin to offer in-school services on Sept. 14 to small cohorts of students with Individualized Education Plans, students learning English as a second language and those who need assessments and specialized services, with proper re-opening protocols, county health officer Dr. Muntu Davis said.
It’s so far unclear if and when Long Beach schools will begin offering these services. A spokesman for Long Beach Unified School District said they are still reviewing the guidance from the county and city.
The county will also not allow schools to apply for waivers to reopen, which was announced by the state in early August, until officials see how the current changes affect case rates. The waiver system would allow elementary schools to petition to reopen in-person instruction for students in grades K to 6 if the county case rate is below 200 per 100,000 residents for a two-week average.
Long Beach health officials said they will update their health orders to reflect Wednesday’s changes as well as guidance on a cohort system for daycare and childcare facilities.
This comes as the county continues to see declines in case numbers and hospitalizations. The county is now at a seven-day average positivity rate of 5% and has 10.2 daily new cases per 100,000 residents, which is down from 13 several weeks ago, Davis said.
To move to the next less restrictive tier, counties must have between four and seven new daily cases per 100,000 residents and a positivity rate of less than 8%.
He and other officials again cautioned that the public should not let its guard down and that a cautious and slow reopening is the only way to ensure the county doesn’t again see a spike in cases.
“The improvements we’ve seen do not mean victory and it’s still easy to transmit,” Davis said.
Health officials also warned that the transmission rate in the county is still at just barely under one, which means any changes in behavior will cause spread.
In Long Beach, officials reported similar declines, though the city is dependent on the county numbers in order to reopen.
City health officials reported five new deaths of Long Beach residents caused by COVID-19, but noted that the deaths occurred between May and July and were originally not counted because they were mistakenly classified as non-Long Beach residents. The city’s total is now 222 deaths.
The county also reported 57 new deaths from COVID-19. The city reported 54 new cases and the county reported 1,457 new cases.