One week after he ordered that all restaurants, bars, movie theaters, and gyms would be closed to help enforce social distancing amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti ordered that more public gathering sites will be closed, including the Venice Beach Boardwalk.
During a news conference Sunday, Garcetti said that beach parking lots and other areas of the city will be closed after the public repeatedly congregated in large numbers throughout the week. He also banned all group sporting events.
“Don’t mess around,” he said. “This is too important”
On top of the closures, Garcetti also announced that the city will be launching a portal in the next few days where the city residents most vulnerable to COVID-19, those 65 and older with preexisting conditions, can be tested if they are showing symptoms.
The city’s homeless population, one of the worst in the country, will be moved into city rec centers, Garcetti explained. The city is working to have 42 centers opened for that initiative, as Fox 11 reports.
The Democratic mayor also thanked President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence for ordering the hospital ship, Mercy, into the port of Los Angeles. As The Daily Wire reported last week, the U.S. Navy activated two hospital ships, one on each coast, to provide additional beds for non-COVID-19 cases.
Garcetti also announced a new fund to provide childcare for health workers as well as “assistance for the needy and meals for seniors,” Fox 11 reports. “The goal, he said, is to raise $25 million as soon as possible for the fund.”
On Twitter, Garcetti expressed displeasure toward city residents “packing beaches, trails and parks” throughout the weekend, advising them to practice social distancing.
“This weekend we saw too many people packing beaches, trails and parks,” tweeted the mayor. “So we are closing sports and recreation at [city parks] and closing parking at city beaches. That doesn’t mean gather elsewhere. This is serious. Stay home and save lives.”
This weekend we saw too many people packing beaches, trails and parks. So we are closing sports and recreation at @LACityParks and closing parking at city beaches. That doesn’t mean gather elsewhere. This is serious. Stay home and save lives.
— MayorOfLA (@MayorOfLA) March 23, 2020
Garcetti’s closure announcement came two days after he warned city residents that Los Angeles hospitals will be overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients in the course of the next week.
“Whether it’s six days, or nine days… we’re about to be overwhelmed, which means people won’t get into our hospitals, people who don’t just have COVID-19 could lose their lives,” Garcetti said on the “Today” show. “There will be millions of people who do get this. Most of them will come through this very strongly.”
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson also warned over the weekend that his government would enforce stricter measures if people do not practice social distancing.
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