Los Angeles imposes new lockdown as US cases surge

Health authorities signal imminent clearance of Pfizer vaccine for health workers and care home residents

A Covid-19-themed mural outside a restaurant in Santa Monica, in California's Los Angeles County where a new stay-home order takes effect on November 30, 2020. AP Photo

Authorities in California's Los Angeles county ordered a partial lockdown for three weeks from Monday after seeing one in 10 coronavirus tests return positive results.

“With the recent surge of Covid-19 across our community, we must take additional safety measures to reduce the risk of illness and death,” Barbara Ferrer, the county’s director of public health, said in a statement on Friday. “Acting with collective urgency right now is essential if we want to put a stop to this surge.

The county – the most populous in the US – reported 24 new deaths on Friday, bringing its fatalities to 7,604. It reported 4,544 new cases, for a total of 387,793, and its five-day average was 4,751. The test positive rate rose to 10 per cent.

About one in 145 people in the county has been infected with Covid-19, compared with one in 880 two months ago, Eric Garcetti, mayor of the city of Los Angeles, said in a tweet. “We have to act now to slow the spread,” he said.

Los Angeles has had more coronavirus cases and deaths than any other county in the US, which has the highest national tally of fatalities and infections in the pandemic.

The US added 203,013 new cases on Friday, a record, as some states resumed daily updates following the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday. The increase brings the total for the country to 13.1 million. Deaths increased by 1,421 to 264,838.

US health authorities will hold an emergency meeting next week to recommend that a coronavirus vaccine awaiting approval be given first to healthcare professionals and people in long-term care facilities.

The meeting, announced on Friday by a US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) committee on immunisations, suggests that the Food and Drug Administration may be close to authorising distribution of the long-awaited medication, at least to those considered most vulnerable.

United Airlines has begun moving shipments of the vaccine, developed by Pfizer Inc, on charter flights to ensure it can be quickly distributed once it is approved, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunisation Practices will vote on Tuesday to recommend that the FDA allow healthcare professionals and long-term care facilities to be the first two groups to get initial vaccine supplies, a CDC spokeswoman said.

The new measures in Los Angeles were announced just two days after the county of 10 million banned outdoor dining as cases surged. Friday’s announcement will restrict both public and private gatherings with others who are not from the same households. Exceptions were made for church services and protests.

For public areas, the county will limit what it deemed as non-essential retail, including stores in indoor malls, to just 20 per cent of capacity. The same cap will apply to personal care services and libraries. For essential retail, such as grocery stores, the capacity will be restricted to 35 per cent, and while outdoor gyms, museums and zoos will be able to accept up to half their capacity.

The measures are less strict than the ones introduced at the height of the pandemic in March, when beaches and hiking trails were shut after large groups gathered in those areas. These will now stay open, along with golf courses, tennis courts, pools and other community areas. Even mini-golf, batting cages and go-kart racing facilities that operate outdoors will be allowed to run at half their capacity.

The health order was met with mixed reactions on Twitter. Some said that the measures did not go far enough, while others opposed further restrictions as earlier ones have already hit the economy hard.