LA County’s Department of Health announced it would suspend outdoor, on-premise dining in Los Angeles beginning November 25 at 10 p.m. in order to slow the spread of COVID-19 – without evidence linking outdoor eating or drinking to a claimed increase in local coronavirus infections, Breitbart reports.
The Public Health Department announced on Tuesday that “surging COVID-19” necessitates the decree “to avoid overwhelming our hospitals and healthcare staff” and “save lives.” The prohibition becomes effective at 10:00 p.m. on Wednesday.
However, according to FOX 11’s Bill Melugin the Los Angeles’s public health authorities research for such extreme measures is flawed due to the fact that it does not discern between indoor and outdoor dining .
Dr. Barbara Ferrer, director of the city’s public health department, urged a broader shutdown of all gatherings — public or private — with the exceptions of church services and protests.
Breitbart reported “The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors held a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the county’s public health department order. Despite dozens of stakeholders calling in — the meeting was held digitally via video conference, ostensibly due to coronavirus concerns — the board voted 3-2 to uphold the shutdown order against food and drink service businesses.”
L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger was on of the two board members to oppose the newly revised lockdown order. She described it as “arbitrary” and claimed it would increase the spread of coronavirus by encouraging “private gatherings.”
“For me, it’s about a lack of consistency,” Barger said on KPCC’s Take Two program. “Our own public health director has said that more than 50% of the positives being reported are the result of private social gatherings with someone who tested positive.”
Los Angeles-based food and drink businesses were already mandated to operate at reduced capacity and indoor dining has been banned since the July Fourth weekend. Restaurant employees were also required to wear plastic face shields while working.
“Los Angeles’s officials are considering a “three-week stay-at-home order” denying freedom of movement to anyone not deemed an “essential worker” or procuring “essential services,”” according to Breitbart.