All LA County Retailers Can Reopen, Officials Say
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – Officials continued to ease lockdown orders in Los Angeles County Wednesday, announcing that all retailers can now reopen for curbside pickup.
L.A. County Public Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer reported that two additional categories of businesses deemed low risk can reopen immediately.
The first category applied to retailers, except for those located in indoor shopping centers. However, they can only reopen for curbside pickup.
The second category was all manufacturing and logistics businesses which supply those lower-risk retailers.
"This applies to the shops that opened last weekend and to the retail businesses that are opening now," Ferrer said.
Social distancing guidelines and face coverings will remain in effect. Customers are not allowed inside the stores.
"In the absence of therapeutic medicines, in the absence of a vaccination that would afford a lot of us some immunity, and in the absence of the kind of testing that you could do everyday at your home with a five-minute test result, we are left in the near future looking at the kind of strategies that help us protect each other," Ferrer said.
Furthermore, Ferrer reported that all tennis courts, pickle ball courts, shooting ranges, equestrian centers, bike parks, community gardens and model airplane sites can reopen. However, basketball courts, volleyball courts and baseball fields remain closed. County beaches opened Wednesday for active recreational use.
Under Wednesday's latest health order, neighborhood leaders will be allowed to close certain streets to cars in order to give residents more space to engage in recreational activities, Ferrer said.
"Local public entities under the new health officer order today...may if they want to temporarily close certain streets or areas to automobile traffic," Ferrer said.
All this comes after the county last Friday reopened florists, car dealership showrooms, and stores that sell clothing, toys, music, sporting goods, and books for curbside pickup as part of the second phase of a five-phase reopening plan.
Phase three of the plan will see higher-risk businesses reopen, such hair and nail salons, bars and nightclubs, movie theaters, bowling alleys, and tattoo and massage parlors. Stage three will also include schools and colleges.
Ferrer Monday noted that 162 L.A. County businesses were found to be in violation of the health orders over the weekend, specifically florists.
All L.A. County beaches also reopened Wednesday, although their parking lots remain closed. Trails, parks and golf courses were reopened this past weekend.
Meanwhile, officials reported that there were 1,264 new coronavirus cases in L.A. County Wednesday and 47 deaths. It brings the total number of cases to 34,428, and death toll to 1,659.
