Wednesday, April 21. Here’s what’s happening with the coronavirus in California and beyond.
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After a devastating fall and winter surge that filled hospital intensive care units with COVID-19 patients and forced funeral homes to turn away grieving families, California’s coronavirus case rate is now the
lowest in the continental U.S.
The state’s latest seven-day rate of new cases 40.3 per 100,000 people is dramatically lower than the nationwide rate of 135.3 per 100,000. Only Hawaii’s case rate of 39.1 per 100,000 is lower than California’s, writes my colleague Luke Money.
For the first time in more than two months, cooped-up Angelenos can now grab a bite to eat at one of the region’s restaurants and stay awhile to savor it.
Los Angeles County officially lifted its ban on outdoor dining Friday, removing the proverbial padlock from restaurant patios following a lengthy public health closure.
The move represents not just a desperately needed boost for the county’s hospitality industry which has been pummeled for months by closures and restrictions meant to thwart transmission of the coronavirus but the relaxation of what proved to be one of the more controversial rules the county has put in place throughout the course of the pandemic.
While the possibility of a quick return is sure to
thrill some parents and students, school officials and some local advocacy groups expressed caution over the development. And Ferrer warned that the current positive trend could easily reverse.
For schools to be able to open “assumes that everybody continues to do their very best play by the rules to keep making sure that transmission goes down and not back up,” Ferrer said.
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Even if rates continue to decline, formidable hurdles still could delay reopening, including the readiness of campus safety measures, union negotiations and the availability of vaccines for teachers and other school staff.