Los Angeles could become the largest city in the United States to implement a second order to stay home as coronavirus hospitalizations continue to rise, according to reports.
As coronavirus cases have risen to record levels in the Los Angeles area, authorities said last week that the country’s largest county is entering “an alarming and dangerous phase” that, if not reversed, could overwhelm intensive care units and lead to more closings.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti warned that authorities were “on the verge” of resorting to closing all businesses except essential ones. Appearing on CNN Sunday, the mayor blamed state and county officials for reopening too quickly in May. He also said that people who had stayed home since mid-March have fallen into old habits and socialized in the summer as if the virus had disappeared.
COUNTY OF LA VER CORONAVIRUS HOSPITALIZATION REGISTRY, 15 CHILDREN WITH POTENTIALLY FATAL INFLAMMATORY CONDITION
“It is not just what is open and closed. It is also about what we do individually. These are the people who meet outside their homes, with people they might meet. It could be their extended family, they could be friends, “Garcetti told CNN’s Jake Tapper.
“You might think because they had a test two weeks ago that it’s okay, but it’s not. This virus feeds on our division, it feeds when we run out, it feeds on us in those moments when we don’t have a unified national front or, as individuals we think, oh, this will not be a big problem, “said the mayor.
Implementing a second stay-at-home order could make Los Angeles the first major city in the country to close again due to a second wave of the virus, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Around Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties have also been hit by a new wave of infections. By comparison, another densely populated area in California, San Francisco-Bay, has witnessed less than half of new cases in the past two weeks than in Los Angeles County, according to the Times.
Garcetti said he would wait until this week to make a call to see first whether the measures imposed by California Governor Gavin Newsom were effective in curbing the spread of the disease. Earlier this month, Newsom closed indoor bars and restaurants across the state and ordered the closure of beauty salons, gyms, shopping malls, and other indoor businesses in Los Angeles and other counties experiencing the most significant increase in cases of virus.
On Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health recorded 3,160 new coronavirus cases in the last 24-hour period, bringing the total number of confirmed infections to at least 159,045. More than 4,100 people in Los Angeles County have died from COVID-19-related complications since the start of the pandemic, which accounts for more than half of the deaths statewide.
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The number of people hospitalized in Los Angeles County on Tuesday was 2,212, which is slightly below the record of 2,232 set on Saturday. Despite the increase in hospitalizations, county health officials reported that they were in good shape when it comes to available ICU beds, ventilators, and other supplies.
Outside the US, the city of Leicester, England, was forced to reimpose blockade measures despite initially relaxed restrictions amid new outbreaks in areas of the city inhabited primarily by members of its black minority populations. and Asian, according to the Lancet medical journal.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
