As positive cases of COVID-19 top 1,000 in Long Beach and officials reopen beaches countywide, officials say that the path to a full reopening will have to be a slow process, guided by how impacted the city’s hospitals become.
Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia in a press conference likened the process to being a dimmer switch rather than a light switch that could be easily flipped on and off.
“Our timeline will be guided by what our hospitalization rate is,” Garcia said, noting that the hospitalization data provided next week will likely paint a bigger picture of how reopenings are affecting the spread of the virus.
Long Beach and LA County have now reopened beaches for active use and started allowing some recreation activities, including swimming and kayaking. They have also begun to allow curbside pickup for retail stores and businesses like dog groomers.
In alignment with the state and county, Long Beach’s health order does not have an end date, meaning closures could go for as long as needed.
LA County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said in a media briefing that in the absence of a proven therapy, medication or vaccine, the only option for health officials is to reopen incrementally and ask residents to maintain social distancing protocols. She noted that the initial closures were a big step in keeping residents safe.
“We did accomplish something huge—we never had a surge; we never had a peak,” Ferrer said.
She too said that data would be the determining factor with reopenings.
Countywide, Ferrer reported 1,264 new cases on Wednesday and 47 new deaths, bringing the totals to 34,428 and 1,659, respectively.
Ferrer brought a flurry of confusion on Tuesday when she said at a Board of Supervisors meeting that the county would likely be under stay-home orders until August. She later clarified that the county is still planning to gradually relax the order where appropriate.
“We’re counting on the public’s continued compliance with the orders to enable us to relax restrictions, and we are committed to making sure that LA County is in the best position to provide its 10 million residents with the highest level of wellness possible as we progressively get back to normal,” she said in a statement.