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As the number of new coronavirus cases continued to rise in Los Angeles County, health officials issued a temporary stay-at-home order on Friday that will take effect Monday.
The restrictions, which will last for three weeks, are not as severe as those imposed this spring.
“Residents are urged to stay at home as much as possible and always wear a face covering their nose and mouth when outside their homes and around others,” the health department said. county.
The ordinance prohibits all public and private gatherings with people who do not belong to the same household, except for religious services and demonstrations.
It places new occupancy limits on businesses, such as personal care and retail, but does not shut them down. Beaches, trails and parks will remain open, but gatherings at these sites with non-domestic members are prohibited
The new rules come just two days after restaurants across much of LA County were ordered to suspend outdoor dining. The decision sparked negative reactions from restaurateurs and some elected officials, who called the rules too restrictive for the already struggling industry.
Officials had warned that further restrictions were coming.
LA County was reporting a seven-day average of nearly 4,300 new coronavirus cases per day on Wednesday, the third day in a row that that number hit a new high. Unless something dramatic is done to slow transmission, that number is set to double in two weeks and quadruple in one month, officials said.
Officials said hospitals could see a shortage of beds – especially in intensive care units – over the next two to four weeks if these trends continue. But hospitals are better equipped now than they were in the spring to handle an increase in cases, treatment for COVID-19 has improved dramatically, and hospitals may cancel elective surgeries to make more room.
COVID-19 hospitalizations across the county have already more than doubled in just three weeks, from around 800 on Halloween to just under 1,700 on Tuesday.
Times editors Rong-Gong Lin II and Luke Money contributed to this report.
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