At a meeting of the Los Angeles County Supervisors today, Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said that the county’s COVID-19 orders will “with all certainty” be extended through July. According to the LA Times:
Ferrer, though she didn’t issue an official order, said that timeline would only change if there was a “dramatic change to the virus and tools at hand.”
“Our hope is that by using the data, we’d be able to slowly lift restrictions over the next three months,” she said. But without widely available therapeutic testing for the coronavirus or rapid at-home versions that would allow people to test themselves daily, it seems unlikely that restrictions would be completely eased.
Ferrer’s comments came shortly after Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, warned Congress that states that push too quickly to ease orders could undo progress that would trigger an outbreak. Fauci said a 14-day decline in cases is the major checkpoint that states should meet before reopening.
Note, however, that this was not a direct order from the County. Also, no official word yet from the City of Los Angeles on how the County announcement will filter down. For most of the last few weeks, such announcements at the County level have fairly quickly been followed by similar announcements from LA Mayor Eric Garcetti, confirming and conforming to the County policies at the city level. We’ll be sure to pass on any more local news when we have it.
