As officials grapple with details of how and when to reopen the economy, Long Beach residents are eager for answers on how they or their businesses will survive the coronavirus pandemic.

Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia and Congressman Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, in a Friday virtual town hall attempted to shed some light on how officials are making these decisions.

“We get that people are angry right now and scared and anxious and all those things are normal,” Garcia said. “…We’re making decisions based on data and on the facts and sometimes the data and the facts aren’t what everyone wants to hear, and I understand that, but that is how we’re going to lead through this crisis and this recovery.”

Lowenthal urged the need to wait for medical experts say the nation has enough resources and testing to open up the economy.

“The numbers are still too high,” Lowenthal said, adding that opening businesses in the wrong way could lead to second and third waves of the pandemic, which would “destroy the economy and the well-being of our nation.”

The city has started an economic recovery taskforce focused on how to reopen the economy and Garcia noted that Long Beach could differ slightly from the county and state as long as the city meets the baseline standards the governor has called for.

Both the mayor and congressman did not have specifics on when and how the city could start opening up again.

“At the end of the day, the final decision on how and when we reopen, getting this input, will be made by, in my opinion, the smartest people in the room in this pandemic, and those are the doctors, scientists and the statisticians,” Garcia said.

Watch the full town hall here: