LOS ANGELES — Gov. Gavin Newsom Sunday ordered bars in Los Angeles County and six other counties to close to prevent further spread of the coronavirus, as the state experiences a surge in new cases and evidence of rising community transmission.
Los Angeles County officials have reported "significant increases" in coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and test positivity rates in recent days, including 2,169 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 23 additional deaths reported Saturday.
Those numbers brought the county's totals to 95,371 cases and 3,285 fatalities.
And, with test results now available for more than one million individuals, 9% are testing positive. The cumulative positivity rate has increased from 8% to 9%, and the seven-day average of the daily positivity rate has increased from 5.8% two weeks ago to 8.6%.
Some officials have attributed the rise in overall cases to increases in testing, but Barbara Ferrer, the county's director of public health, said repeatedly in recent days that the metrics clearly demonstrate an increase in community spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
Health officials said Friday the rise in cases hitting the county's younger population particularly hard -- likely reflecting reopenings of bars and restaurants and participation in this month's mass demonstrations against police brutality.
Ferrer said Thursday that residents and business owners -- most notably bars and restaurants -- have a joint responsibility to adhere to health requirements and protocols. She noted that over the three recent weekends after restaurants and bars were permitted to reopen for dine-in service, county inspectors visited more than 3,700 establishments, and 83% of them were found not to be in full compliance with county protocols for reopening.
Ferrer said that over the past two months, the largest percentage of complaints the Department of Public Health received about restaurants and other businesses were violations of the requirement that safety protocols be publicly posted at each establishment and distributed to employees. The second most common complaint was people not wearing face coverings.
"Business owners, we ask that you too do your part," Ferrer said Thursday. "Our guidelines are not suggestions. They are mandates. If you see someone in your business that's not wearing a face covering, take action. If you see large groups of people congregating in your business, question whether those folks truly came from the same household and take action. Ask them to step away from each other.
"I know this is difficult. It's summer, restaurants and bars are open and things seem like they're back to normal, but they're not. The virus is deadly. The virus remains in our community and if we don't collectively take the necessary steps to be safe we'll continue to see people we love get sick, be hospitalized and potentially die."
Officials are also warning the public about reports of phony mask exemption cards that depict a government seal with threatening language.
"Everyone, except children under the age of 2, should wear a face covering securely over their nose and mouth any time they leave the house and keep six feet apart from others not in your household when out and about," a health department statement said. "People with medical conditions that prevent safe use of a face covering are asked to wear a face shield. Accurate information will always be distributed officially by Public Health through official channels in the form of a press release, on the Public Health website and through social media accounts @lapublichealth."
While the average number of daily deaths from the virus has been dropping, the number of daily new cases is on the rise. According to the county, the seven-day average number of new cases was 1,979 as of Friday, up from 1,379 just two weeks ago.
Ninety-four percent of the county's 3,285 coronavirus deaths have occurred in people with underlying health conditions.