LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reported 2,593 recently confirmed cases of the new coronavirus and 13 deaths Monday, with a total of 136,129 cases and 3,822 deaths across the county.
Customers practice social distancing as they line up to order food at Ghost Pizza on July 10 in Los Angeles. Ghost Pizza, the pizzeria on Melrose Avenue, is adapted to operate during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Rodin Eckenroth / Getty Images)
The department also reported that it continued to see evidence of increased community spread of COVID-19 with 2,056 people hospitalized, 28% of whom were in intensive care units and 20% of whom were on ventilators. The positivity rate, the number of people who tested positive for COVID-19, remained stable at 9% with more than 1.3 million people tested.
The news of the continued increase came when Governor Gavin Newsom ordered the closure of all indoor operations at restaurants, bars, gyms, churches, shopping malls, and other locations in 30 counties across the state, including Los Angeles, Riverside, and Orange, in an effort to slowly transmit disease.
To help curb the spread of # COVID19, the following sectors should halt indoor operations beginning July 13. Find out more at https://t.co/nvJN7HPEk0 pic.twitter.com/cjdaAw5czr
– Los Angeles County (@CountyofLA) July 13, 2020
“We will pay attention to the guidance provided by the state to enforce these new state requirements and modify our own order of health officers,” said Dr. Barbara Ferrer, the county’s director of public health, during a briefing on Monday. “And I know that this step backward on our recovery journey is daunting, but we must do everything in our power to stop the spread of the virus, make people we love sick, and cause premature death.”
The health department also issued its new guidelines for reopening elementary and secondary schools in Los Angeles County.
“The protocols do not authorize schools to reopen for classroom instruction,” the county said in a statement. “School reopens will be guided by the state and by each school district’s decision on how to best configure learning opportunities during the pandemic, considering levels of community transmission and what science tells us about the risks.”
And while the protocols serve as a roadmap for schools to safely reopen, the Los Angeles Unified School District said Monday that it would have no on-campus instruction this fall.
Health officials also stressed the importance of washing their hands, isolating themselves if they are sick, practicing physical distancing, and wearing a clean face covering while away from home.
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