Californians flock to Pasadena restaurants for Thanksgiving as state breaks record for COVID infections

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California has recorded its highest average daily number of cases since the outbreak began on Thanksgiving Day. The state’s seven-day daily case average reached 14,320 on Nov. 26, according to Johns Hopkins University.

On the same day, Californians were seen celebrating Thanksgiving at restaurants in Pasadena, the only city in Los Angeles County where alfresco dining resumed. A recent county health ordinance banned in-person meals, but the city has its own health department and is therefore not required to comply.

Some people have reportedly traveled several miles to Pasadena to eat at one of the city’s restaurants.

“We’re not seeing any families right now. We’re social distancing and we don’t want to be home alone, so we made the drive from Beverly Hills to Pasadena, and it’s so nice that the restaurants are still open here. “Pollin Farzin Fox 11 Los Angeles said.

The travel and food blogger celebrated her 30th birthday as well as Thanksgiving at Il Fornaio in Pasadena. “It was nice to have a party outside, to be with people and to feel the warmth of others too.”

Louisa Prouty told Fox 11 Los Angeles: “We have decided to go out [for Thanksgiving] and just be the four of us this year. Very different from previous years. “She usually celebrated with a large group of extended family,” she said, “but this year she traveled from West Covina to Pasadena.

Her husband Rudy noted, “It’s important – we’re all happy to just be outside, and the weather is nice. And the restaurant was good, the food was good.”

Their son Spencer added: “It’s refreshing – it’s good to go out more, especially when we’re in school for four hours online.”

Denise Palleschi told ABC 7: “There aren’t a lot of places open. I had to call several places to find two and we had to make reservations.” She added: “We entered because it is the only place open to the outside.”

Health ordinances elsewhere in Los Angeles County have banned eating at restaurants, breweries, wineries and bars beginning at 10:00 p.m. local time on Wednesday. The restriction will be in place for three weeks and was issued as the number of new infections reached “alarming levels,” according to Los Angeles County Public Health.

Long Beach is the only other city in the county to have its own health department, but it has also banned in-person meals.

Earlier this week, Pasadena City Council unanimously decided to keep al fresco dining options open. The number of cases will be monitored daily and decisions will be made accordingly, the council told Fox 11 Los Angeles.

The city plans to deploy health inspectors to enforce social distancing rules and verify that restaurants don’t allow large gatherings, NBC Los Angeles reported earlier this week.

The seven-day average of confirmed cases in Pasadena has been rising since early November, after remaining stable during most of the outbreak since late March, according to the latest report from the Pasadena Department of Public Health.

In Los Angeles County, the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations (including confirmed and suspected patients) and confirmed COVID-19 patients in the intensive care unit have both increased sharply since early November, according to Los Angeles County Public Health.

The total number of confirmed cases in California exceeded 1.1 million, with 19,206 deaths on Friday, according to Johns Hopkins. The state’s seven-day case average has risen sharply since mid-October, after declining from mid-August.

California’s daily number of cases is expected to reach around 34,370 by Christmas and exceed 40,000 on New Years Day, if there is “continued relaxation of the social distancing mandate and the warrants not reimposed “, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.