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SANTA MONICA, Calif .– The Los Angeles County Director of Public Health on Monday applauded the work of residents and businesses to slow the spread of COVID-19, noting that the county now meets five of the six benchmarks of the State of coronavirus surveillance.
But she warned that reckless behaviors such as large gatherings, parties and religious services indoors could threaten this recovery effort.
“We know that a person can test positive for COVID-19 and be able to pass the virus on to others without ever, ever having symptoms, or even being aware that they are infected,” said Barbara Ferrer. “If that person attends a gathering, especially indoors, where they socialize, eat, drink, don’t wear a mask or distance themselves, they can easily infect many other people who are at the gathering by doing the same.
“We have many examples here in our county and across the country of gatherings, parties, and services that have resulted in COVID-19 outbreaks,” she said. “We have seen epidemics on college campuses, brotherhood and sisterhood homes, restaurants, at our protests, churches and in people across the country and some of these gatherings have resulted in tragic loss of life and serious illnesses. “
There are a total of 710 cases of coronavirus reported in Santa Monica, according to health officials.
Ferrer declined to comment on details of a legal battle the county is waging with a Sun Valley church that defied health orders on Sunday and held an indoor worship service. But she said such gatherings are just as dangerous.
“We continue to reach out to every faith-based organization and do all we can to help you and your congregants find acceptable ways to worship outdoors,” she said. “Many places of worship are already doing this and we thank you for your efforts. It is a wonderful display of camaraderie and concern for our community.
Ferrer continued to express his general optimism about the positive trends in most coronavirus follow-up measures. She said the county now meets six of the state’s criteria, failing only in the rate of new cases, which stands at a 14-day daily average of 295 new cases per 100,000 population. The state benchmark is 100 or less.
But Ferrer said the county met other criteria for declining hospitalizations, the average seven-day positivity rate – now at 6%, testing capacity and availability of intensive care unit beds and ventilators.
Until the county meets the state’s six benchmarks, it will remain on the state’s watch list, preventing schools and many businesses from reopening. As of Monday morning, 42 of the state’s 58 counties were on the list, although San Diego County is expected to be deleted on Tuesday, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Ferrer on Monday announced 19 more deaths from the virus, bringing the total since the start of the pandemic to 5,273. She also announced 1,185 more cases, noting that the number of new cases and deaths is generally lower at the start of the week in due to reduced testing and reporting over the weekend.
Long Beach on Monday announced 99 new cases of the virus, while Pasadena added three. These towns both have their own separate county health departments.
The total number of cases across the county since the start of the pandemic was 223,233 on Monday.
Despite continued reporting of new cases and deaths, Ferrer praised the work of residents to comply with restrictions by wearing face masks and practicing social distancing.
“I hope this data is a reminder to all of us of the power of our actions to prevent serious disease and save lives, and once again I want to say how grateful I am to everyone who is doing their part. ‘ensure we slow the spread of COVID-19, “said Ferrer.” We still have a way to go to reduce community transmission enough that we can be sure that the time is right to reopen our schools and put back work to more people.
“We don’t want community infections to come back to our schools and create an increase in epidemics which then increases the amount of community transmission that we’re going to see.
Officials in the city of Santa Monica have extended a local emergency until August 31, in response to the ongoing pandemic and continued recovery efforts throughout the city. The town hall remains closed.
School campuses also remain closed, and school district officials have extended the start date for Santa Monica students to August 24. Students will begin the fall semester 2020 with distance learning.
This is news in development. Check back with Patch for more updates.
UPDATE: This article previously listed 708 cases as of Monday evening. This number is updated to 710 as of Tuesday morning.
– City News Service and Patch Editor Nicole Charky contributed to this report.
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