Meanwhile, a decision is expected Thursday on whether Los Angeles County will allow all businesses that are below the less restrictive “red” level to actually reopen, especially covered restaurants.
According to a plan announced last week, once the state reaches the milestone of two million doses in low-income communities, the state’s “Plan for a Safer Economy” governing business reopening will adjust , which will make it easier for counties to move through a four-tier matrix.
As of Wednesday, the state had administered 1,926,968 doses in affected communities and Newsom said the 2 million mark will be reached on Friday. When this mark is met, counties will be able to leave the most restrictive “purple” level of the plan when the average daily rate of new COVID-19 infections reaches 10 per 100,000 residents, a slower level than the current 7 per 100,000 residents.
Under the new guidelines, Los Angeles and Orange counties would immediately qualify to move to the less restrictive “red” level, as both have been below the 10 percent per 100,000 level for two weeks. The new Los Angeles County case rate is currently 5.2 per 100,000 population, while that of Orange County is 6 per 100,000.
The “red” level allows counties to reopen indoor restaurants, fitness centers and movie theaters, while increasing capacity in retail stores and malls.
“In Southern California, you will be a beneficiary,” Newsom said during a visit to a mobile vaccination clinic in South Gate on Wednesday. “Specifically, LA will be a big beneficiary of this new metric that will probably be met on Friday. And going into the weekend and until next week, you’ll see more activity and more leveling up. That’s encouraging and I hope people are excited. with what that means moving forward, because we have a number of other thresholds and other goals that will allow us to move forward with more clarity, more conviction and more confidence as we move forward in the coming weeks and months. ”
RELATED: Newsom says state is about to reach vaccination target, allowing most SoCal counties to go red
Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said it will be 48 hours after the state announced that the vaccination threshold has been met for the county to officially move to the “red” level. If the target is met on Friday, as Newsom announced, the county could move forward as early as Sunday.
The idea behind the two million dose threshold is to ensure that vaccines are distributed equitably across the state, ensuring that low-income communities that have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic are not forgotten in the effort. of vaccination. Newsom has ordered that 40% of the state’s vaccine supply be earmarked to ensure fairness in the distribution process.
Once Los Angeles County moves to the “red” level, it will be up to county officials to decide whether to fully align with the state’s business reopening guidelines or maintain stricter regulations. Ferrer has hinted this week that the county may consider This week he repeatedly referred to a recent federal study that found that eating in person creates an increased risk of COVID-19 spread, an indication that the county may not re-authorize. immediately the inner dining room for it to resume.
On Wednesday, when asked if indoor food would be allowed, Ferrer did not compromise, saying discussions with the Board of Supervisors and the restaurant sector continued. But he said the county plans to release “red” level operating guidelines for restaurants, movie theaters and other businesses Thursday, so “we’ll have a definitive answer in that regard.”
“We’re seeing what’s going on across the state, we’re seeing what we’ve learned about what can create the maximum security possible when people are locked up,” he said.
State “red” level guidelines allow food covered at 25% of capacity, but counties may impose stricter regulations. The level also allows indoor fitness centers to 10% capacity and movie theaters, museums and aquariums to 25%. it also allows theme parks like Disneyland in Orange County and Universal Studios Hollywood in Los Angeles County to reopen 15% of capacity, with only visitors to the state.
On Tuesday, two members of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors said they supported full alignment with state guidelines, including indoor food.
“I think we should align with the red state level reopening guidelines,” said supervisor Janice Hahn. “… I think being different from this one at the moment would cause confusion and probably a lot of anger, because there are so many places out there, entities, that have really suffered and are waiting for some of these restrictions to be lifted.
“Especially if we’re talking about the reopening of Disneyland with limited capacity, on opening day at Dodger Stadium there will be fans in person,” he said. “… But I really hope we can stay aligned so there is no confusion from one county to another.”
RELATED: LA County could move to the red level as early as this weekend, but will the indoor food return?
Supervisor Kathryn Barger agreed with Hahn, saying LA County should align its public health order with neighboring state and counties.
“I think clarity and consistency lead to higher compliance rates,” Barger said, adding that he wanted to prevent local residents from traveling to other counties with lower restrictions.
Ferrer warned the council that while case numbers and the positivity rate of evidence have plummeted in recent weeks, things could easily get worse if residents relaxed about infection control measures.
“This is the month I would say (March, early April), where we need to be extraordinarily cautious,” he said. “Because we’ve been here before. We’ve been here with the reopening. We’ve been here with Thanksgiving and Christmas trips. We’ve seen what happens around the holidays if we don’t take much care. life right now to get vaccinated and stay alive. So this would be a time of extreme caution. “
He specifically noted the spread of virus variants that cause COVID-19, which can spread more easily from person to person. Ferrer said the variant first identified in the UK has increased its reach in Los Angeles County and is now believed to be responsible for 10% of all COVID cases in the county.
“There is growing concern about a fourth global wave of COVID-19 as cases began to rise in the last week of February, after six weeks of decline, especially in Europe,” he said.
Ferrer also noted that while the county received its largest COVID-19 vaccine allocation this week, with more than 300,000 doses, that number is expected to drop because the county will not receive any dose of the new single dose. of Johnson & Johnson over the next two weeks, due to a manufacturing and production issue. “
“Essentially, Johnson & Johnson gave everything they had right away and now we’ll be waiting a bit until they have more to distribute,” he said.
The drop in vaccine supply will coincide with next Monday’s expansion of vaccine eligibility for people 16 and older with an underlying disease that puts them at risk for serious illness or death from VOCID- 19. He said Wednesday that eligibility has also been expanded to include concierge workers, public transportation services and airport ground crew workers, along with social workers who handle cases of violence and abuse and foster parents who they offer emergency accommodation to young people.
Ferrer urged people to be patient when trying to arrange vaccines due to the continued shortage of vaccines and the growing number of people eligible to receive vaccines. He urged people with underlying health conditions to contact their doctor to see if they can arrange shots through their healthcare provider.
On Wednesday, the county reported another 119 deaths from COVID-19, although five of those fatalities were announced Tuesday by Long Beach health officials. Long Beach reported one more death Wednesday afternoon, while Pasadena added two. The new deaths raised the county-wide death toll from the entire pandemic to 22,216.
1,514 more cases were reported by the county, though Ferrer said that number included a “few hundred” cases attributed to a cumulative number of complaints. Long Beach reported 22 cases Wednesday and Pasadena has announced five. The new cases raised the total accumulated pandemic to 1,206,740.
According to state figures, there were 1,056 people admitted to the county due to COVID as of Monday, with 309 people in intensive care.
As of Friday, 2,415,460 doses of COVID vaccine have been administered in the county. This includes 814,593 second doses, which represent the number of
fully vaccinated people.
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