The Antelope Valley Times

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Despite uptick in cases, LA County agrees to open nail salons and indoor malls [updated]

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LOS ANGELES – Despite reporting another uptick in daily coronavirus cases and an upward trend in the community transmission rate of the virus, Los Angeles County officials Wednesday cleared the way for nail salons to resume indoor operations and for indoor shopping malls to reopen.

The salons and malls will be both be restricted to 25% of capacity, and public health director Barbara Ferrer encouraged nail salon operators to continue offering services outdoors. She said food courts at indoor shopping malls will also remain closed.

Outdoor playgrounds, which have been off-limits during the pandemic, can also reopen, Ferrer said, but only at the discretion of individual cities in which they are located. Anyone over age 2 will be required to wear a face-covering at the playgrounds, and no eating or drinking will be permitted.

The reopenings were announced one day after the county Board of Supervisors agreed to open a waiver process for schools to offer in-person instruction for students in pre-kindergarten through 2nd grade, and voted to reopen craft breweries, wineries and outdoor card rooms.

Timelines for those business reopenings have not yet been announced, but they are also expected to occur over the next 10 days, Ferrer said.

The openings come despite what Ferrer described as a “small increase” in daily coronavirus case numbers when compared to the early part of September. She said the increase “may either reflect lower testing numbers at the beginning of the month, or they may reflect the fact that we’re starting to see some small increases in community transmission.”

She noted that testing dipped earlier in the month when the region was hit with a severe heatwave that forced the closure of some testing centers. Fires that fouled the air with smoke also forced some centers to temporarily close.

“This may in fact help explain some of the increases that we just saw in mid-September, but we’re going to need to wait and see what we have for case counts over the next week or so,” Ferrer said.

The county’s recent positivity rate of people who are tested for the virus has been steadily dropping, now averaging 2.8%. Hospitalizations have also been falling steadily, dropping from about 2,200 a day in July to roughly 740 as of last week.

The county’s health services director, Dr. Christina Ghaly, said the county’s virus transmission rate — the average number of people a coronavirus patient infects with the illness — has seen a slight but steady rise over the last six weeks, although it dipped slightly Wednesday to reach 1.0. The rate was 1.02 last week, well above the 0.86 rate of mid-August.

When the rate is below 1.0, case numbers invariably begin to decrease across the county, but when it rises to 1.0 or higher, cases are likely to increase.

Ghaly said the rise or fall of the rate depends on residents’ adherence to basic health requirements, such as wearing face coverings, maintaining social distance and practicing personal hygiene such as frequent hand-washing.

“When we’re not following those basic health measures, as we’ve seen again and again, that … (transmission rate) goes up and that’s what threatens the possibility of reopening for us all,” she said.

Reliance on residents’ adherence to health restrictions plays a major role in the decision to reopen more businesses. Despite the recent increase in cases and the transmission rate, Ferrer said the county was prepared to move ahead with the additional business reopenings — but health officials are hoping business owners and customers will continue to take precautions.

“We have determined that with really good adherence — and this is critical — to the directives that are in place, these are activities that we think can be done with a lot of safety,” Ferrer said. “And if they’re done with a lot of safety we’re hopeful that we won’t see a big surge in cases. It’s pretty easy to know when things aren’t going well because our cases tend to increase within a couple of weeks.”

The county reported another 30 coronavirus-related deaths on Wednesday, lifting the countywide number since the start of the pandemic to 6,551. Ferrer also announced another 1,063 cases of the virus, raising the cumulative total to 269,284.

Since the start of the pandemic, health officials have confirmed 4,157 coronavirus cases and 71 deaths in Palmdale; 3,445 cases and 55 deaths in Lancaster; 179 cases and 11 deaths in Quartz Hill; 236 cases and four deaths in Lake Los Angeles; 187 cases and one death in the Littlerock/Pearblossom, Juniper Hills areas; and 166 cases and two deaths in Sun Village. View the latest detailed report here.

There were 734 people hospitalized in the county as of Wednesday, up from 714 on Tuesday and from 663 on Monday.

UPDATE: Los Angeles County health officials said Thursday, Oct. 1, that nail salons can resume indoor operations right away at 25% of capacity.

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23 comments for "Despite uptick in cases, LA County agrees to open nail salons and indoor malls [updated]"

  1. Poor Alby

    He doesn’t care the Trump didn’t pay taxes or Melania was cussing about kids on the border or Trump testing positive for COVID after he recklessly went maskless too many times.

    No, he wants to die on the hill defending Kimberly (Look at his junk!) Guilfoyle. Hey, Alby, Faux News, your go to channel. fired her and paid out a couple million to the co-worker.

    The Trump KKKrime Family is rotten to the core and that’s your guy.

    • Poor centipede, the brainwave of CNN, have you ever considered that the mask wearing policy is meant for people with std’s that spit when they talk and have crappy breath. This town is full of ’em. And how coincidental that we’re so close to election day and all of the sudden Trump has covid and Biden doesn’t. B.S after B.S. and you honestly think its going unnoticed? The desperation of the Democratic agenda is beyond pathetic.

  2. The NYT Article said that Trump paid millions in federal income taxes. He paid millions to the US Treasury in 2017 when he requested an extension to complete his income tax statement. The final number was that he owed $750 for that year, so the balance was applied to future income taxes.

    Everyone takes what ever deduction he/she can, but I never hear people complaining. In fact, Trump used tax deductions created by the Obama administration in 2012.

  4. Democrats and liberals could learn from an independent/republican how to do nails themselves, allowing them to save extra money to put back into their deficit…. That was a bit of sarcasm. Seriously, when the Republicans win the election, the coronavirus will magically go away, businesses will be reopened fully for everyone of any American political standpoint, and Americans will be well on their way to a brighter future that will eventually be crapped on once again by the bearded neo-vaginas of blm-democracy that hates progress among individuals that dont think or see things the way they do which is also unfortunate for those that believe in a healthy democracy.

    • “…healthy democrracy.” you say, Alby?

      The Republicans have given us a the lyingest president ever. Things don’t work well when there’s no integrity. Hence, Trump’s response to the pandemic was filled with lies and so the response was slow and ineffective compared to other developed countries.

      Is anyone surprised?

      Alby can keep looking through orange-tinted glasses but that’s what’s so. As I write, Republicans in D.C. and various orange states are trying everything to sabotage the election from wrecking the USPS to various schemes to mess with the elections.

      Biden is 7-10 points ahead in polls and has been consistently. So, why would his winning the election require rigging the election? Yet, Trump says the unbelievable that if he loses, it’s because it was rigged.
      The man is insane and anyone who buys his nonsense has their own issues.

      • It was rigged with Obama. Why wouldn’t it be rigged with Kamala. Are we trying to win race points or are we trying to advance in American commercial industries for any American that needs a job to make ends meet. Trump was voted in for two main reason, “border security” and “bringing jobs back to America.” Since day one, most democrats and liberals have been trying to change up the issues using blm as their pawns and covid as their high card and when Republicans win the election, God help us all because who knows what kind of political and commercial road blocks the liberal democrats will come up with next. Everyone has their own issues so why combine it with sick issues that dont further the economy.

    • So Trump now has covid. Now what??? The irony is so huge on this one. What happened to the miracle cure he was taking? Not wearing a mask? Hope he pulls through in all honesty, no sarcasm. Still an undecided voter, but the irony is something else.

      • So, if Miss Universe can’t fulfill his duties, does first runner up, Miss Indiana(Pence), take over?

        Glad we missed the swimsuit portion. And, for those 2 there was no talent portion.

        It was just those ridiculous speeches about neverending happiness and a DOW of 50,000 by year’s end.

      • Paper and cloth masks were NEVER a protect from COVID. Masks prevent a user for spreading the infection to others. Since he has been confirmed to have the virus, it would make sense that he would now start to wear a mask.

        Obviously, if he did not have the virus before, he was not taking a “cure”. He was taking a preventative. One could discuss if not catching the virus from March to August would demonstrate that the preventative was effective or not.

    • Tell it to Trump and his old lady. They both tested positive for the virus. Need more ice for your kool-aid?

    • -He doesn’t pay taxes.

      -He is positive for COVID

      -His son’s main squeeze, Kimberly Guilfoyle, was let go from Fox News due to sexual harassment. She was showing an assistant photos of the junk of the men she’d been with. And, now she’s Don Jr.’s.

      -Melania caught on tape swearing about the children at the border.

      Them’s Alby’s peoples.

      • -False -False -Who cares -Who cares Guilfoyle was accused by “disgruntled and self-interested employees” that didnt like her dating a Trump, so they trumped up allegations against her to run her out of Fox. And lets say even if she did whatever she did, it was probably to thwart off advances made by her colleagues. I dont know them personally so they isn’t my peoples, but I’ll take them over the destructive and disgracfull b.l.m.g.b.t.q. any day.

          • “disgruntled”???? Alby???? Your misery shows up in every comment you post.

            Read your 100 word rant about Kimberly. I can’t believe Gavin touched her even with a 10 foot pole.

            Well, at least your guy Trump might have “herd immunity” when he enters prison in New York State. But, Trump calls it “herd mentality” because he’s thinking of you. Y-O-U.

          • Congratulations. You know how to spell “you.” And speaking of you, you are most likely one of the sheeples in the scandalous herd that voted for Obama. So I find it humerous when you say that we’re part of a herd. Its like a turd accusing a potato of smelling bad. Had a long four years of that and another four to come. And ya you’re right about one thing, I will always be disgruntled about bums and illegal immigrants crapping on my town. My A.V. thats why I make it a point to express my honest opinions about it on local news forums.

    • Thank You.. I’ll be on my way soon!!! :) They nail salons won’t be open for ”indoor service” yet, according to the article..