Though the federal program was suspended on Sept. 2 due to lack of funding, the Biden administration reserved a supply of tests for the winter season, and the program has now resumed.

Long Beach has set aside $850,000 for the COVID-19 memorial project that could be constructed at Lincoln Park in Downtown. The City Council approved a design contract Tuesday night to move forward with a “twin arch” concept.

These are the first coronavirus-related deaths in a week and a half.

Early concept renderings show two brushed-steel arches situated in Lincoln Park in Downtown Long Beach. The arches would have the names of people who died from COVID-19 etched into the inside of the arches, which could also hold a retractable covering for special events.

Both the county and city are seeing a surge in cases, which are underreported, but Long Beach officials said the next step will be only to highly recommend masking indoors, rather than mandate it.

The recommendation falls short of a masking mandate, but masks are still required indoors at healthcare and congregate-care facilities, for anyone exposed to the virus in the past 10 days, and at locations where they are required by the operator.

The move signals a symbolic end for some of the most restrictive elements of the pandemic, as it will dissolve the governor’s authority to alter or change laws to make it easier for the government to quickly respond to the public health crisis.