County Re-Imposes Lockdown Effectively Immediately

By Alyssa Erdley

Observer Staff Writer

The County of Los Angeles has ordered the immediate closure of almost every type of business that had been allowed to reopen during June. All indoor operations of gyms and fitness centers, offices of non-critical infrastructure sectors, places of worship, personal care services, hair salons, barbershops, and malls are now closed again.

Basically, the only businesses allowed open are the "essential" services we were allowed to visit after March 19.

Earlier today, Governor Newsom ordered the closure of indoor restaurants and bars for the state of California. The County of Los Angeles, however, has consistently been more strict than the state as a whole.

The new orders effectively bring society in Los Angeles back to the initial lockdown situation that started March 19. At that time, massive numbers of Californians lost their jobs and applied for unemployment. Since the reopening at the beginning of June, some have been able to return to jobs. The new orders, however, will undoubtedly reverse these gains.

Since the middle of June, the daily number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 has risen steadily. Since May 9, the death rate among COVID-19 patients has fairly steadily declined. There has been a mild increase in the percent of positive test results for those tested since the end of May, around the time large crowds were gathering to protest police brutality. Today there were 2,593 new cases reported. 13 deaths were also reported, the new cases one of the highest and the death count one of the lowest.