LA County falls to ‘medium’ COVID level as infections increase
Increasing spread of the virus bumped LA County out of the “low” category. The change, however, doesn’t cause any new rules to kick in.
Increasing spread of the virus bumped LA County out of the “low” category. The change, however, doesn’t cause any new rules to kick in.
Long Beach last year received more than $60 million in federal COVID relief aid to address fiscal issues and urgent needs in the community, but a year later, the majority of those funds have yet to be spent.
The announcement served as a reminder that the pandemic is not over. As of May 6, the city’s case rate and positivity rate—two key indicators of the virus—had more doubled since mid-April.
The pending regulation requires employers to keep paying workers’ wages and maintain their seniority and other benefits for as long as they can’t work because of a coronavirus exposure or infection.
At least 20 specialized, post-COVID programs have been set up at medical centers in California to help treat these long-haul patients. But they already are overburdened, and experts fear that long COVID could go largely unaddressed or misdiagnosed in people who have few resources.
The move aligns the courts with the county and state’s COVID-19 face-covering guidelines, which only recommend masks in indoor settings, but do not mandate them.
As of Wednesday, Long Beach’s seven-day average for new COVID-19 cases was 100 per 100,00 residents, which helps put the city in to the CDC’s “low risk” category.
That means, as of today, the city no longer requires vaccinated people to wear masks in offices, restaurants and most other indoor areas.
“I felt it was my right to operate my business,” Restauration’s owner, Dana Tanner, said when the judge pressed her on why she ignored health orders.
Long Beach health officials Friday reported just 195 new infections, a drastic reduction when compared to the more than 1,429 daily average reported throughout January.