West Hollywood’s indoor gyms and health clubs, hair salons, and churches, synagogues and other houses of worship will have to close under an order issued today by Gov. Gavin Newsom in response to rising rates of COVID-19 infections.
Citing rates of people testing positive for the coronavirus and jumps in hospitalizations, Newsom also ordered the closure of personal-care services (which include including nail salons, massage parlors, and tattoo parlors), malls and non-critical office settings.
The order affects all 30 counties on the state’s pandemic monitoring list — including Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego and Riverside counties.
The order is likely to have a major impact on local businesses that already have reopened after the initial shutdown of non-essential business that was ordered on March 19. Following that order, Newsom and L.A. County health officials began lifting restrictions on certain categories of businesses if they complied with strict social distancing and sanitation rules intended to prevent transmission of the virus. Gyms had been allowed to re-open on June 12, hair salons and barbershops on May 29 and churches and synagogues on May 26. The West Hollywood City Council on July 6 endorsed amendments to the City Manager’s COVID-19 emergency order that will allow gyms to expand outdoors into adjacent parking lots or other private property. Health experts have determined that the invisible particles of the COVID-19 virus are more likely to cluster and remain in the air in indoor places.
Newsom also ordered the statewide closure of indoor operations at restaurants, wineries, movie theaters, zoos, aquariums, family entertainment centers and card rooms — and the full closure of all bars. Those restrictions were already in place in West Hollywood and the rest of Los Angeles County and other counties on the state’s monitoring list, but the new order extended them statewide.
Newsom reiterated that the state’s enactment of health-restrictions was being handled with a “dimmer switch,” meaning the severity of the orders can be adjusted upward or downward based on the latest virus statistics and “trendlines.”
The state has been seeing record numbers of infections in recent days, along with increasing hospitalizations. As of Monday, Newsom said 6,485 were hospitalized across the state due to the coronavirus. The seven-day rolling average of people testing positive for the virus was 7.7%, Newsom said.
“This virus is not going away anytime soon,” Newsom said. “I hope all of us recognize that if we were still connected to some notion that somehow when it gets warm it’s going to go away or somehow it’s going to take summer months or weekends off, this virus has done neither. You’ve seen parts of the country with very hot … weather where you’re seeing an increase in positivity rates, an increase in hospitalizations and ICUs. Here in the state of California as we’re seeing triple-digit weather in many parts of our state, we’re still seeing an increase in the positivity rate, the community transmission. We’re seeing an increase in the spread of the virus.
Polio was a hundred times worse than this. Because if you didn’t die, you were crippled or put in an iron lung. They didn’t shut down the entire country. They used common sense. The recovery rate of the virus is very high. Very few people die in comparison to the number who have it. Many of the elderly who died, were in nursing homes. Where the government actually put people who had the virus into the facilities like in New York. And in California, the politicians are owned by nursing home owners. So very little investigation of these facilities are… Read more »
“The recovery rate of the virus is very high. Very few people die in comparison to the number who have it.”
So you’re not going to talk about the lasting damage the virus has on people? Even younger people are still reporting side affects months after testing negative.
The politicians making these decisions are being advised by health professionals. Your insinuation that they are nothing more than a DMV employee is not only misinformed, but actually absurd.
And now today LA Country saw the highest number of new Coronavirus cases. Newsom was 100% right to shut businesses down again.
START FINING PEOPLE WHO DO NOT WEAR MASKS. This is a health emergency. Drop the politics, enforce the law, save some lives and stop making us look foolish with this pretend law. FINE 50 PEOPLE AND I guarantee everyone will wear a mask. We are beyond educating people, and now need to use the ability to cite.
Judging by what I see on my daily walk in the early morning, we’ll never get a handle on this virus. The guys running almost never have masks on. And they exhale their gross breath out at everyone who try to take refuge on the sidewalk, in crosswalks, in the middle of the street, anywhere. There’s no safe place for those of us who wear masks. The City said maskless people were going to be ticketed, but with hundreds of hours around the Romane & SMB neighborhoods, I’ve NEVER seen any of these maskless psychos ticketed.
There must be a better way. These businesses are just not going to make it. New GDP data predictions for the second quarter are MINUS 50% and higher.
I don’t understand the randomness of bars closed or open. Wasn’t The Abbey supposed to close according to David Cooley? Fiesta Cantina is open and so is Rocco’s. Mickey’s is closed. All these places have/had food service but are primarily bars. Who decides?
The only thing that will stop this pandemic is a full-on quarantine where people are paid to stay home and rent and mortgage payments, residential and commercial, are suspended and forgiven. That’s what it will take. Nothing short of this will do it–and yet it is the one thing our political system cannot do
Let’s face facts. Governor Nuisance, whose major achievement was having a bullet train run from Bakersfield to Modesto at one point five billion dollars a mile, is running our lives.
Along with that pathetic group of five political hacks known as the city council. At least we can dump 2 of them in November. I’m talking about the two old Johns.
Time to start realizing there may be no West Hollywood left. Except a lot of empty hotels.
I’m no fan of Newsom but the bullet train was Jerry Brown’s obsession.
Once again, you’re trying to incorrectly pin something on Newsom, when it was Governor Brown who approved and financed the high speed rail – not Newsom.
Can we have our city leaders confirm that all forms of outdoor protests with over 20 people are now banned?
Such protests are not banned.
Hank, with respect, you are missing my point that our council needs to confirm that if we are on a close down again that includes protests.
they aren’t. but we’d like to know why??
Can someone please point to a direct correlation between the opening of gyms and the spike of COVID-19 cases? I don’t see any reason why gyms that require face masks and gloves need to be shut down. Don’t punish people and business that are responsible!!!!
Agreed!
Everybody knows what going on here. No science in gyms barbershops Rioters and looters and mobs packed together like sardines, howling and spewing spittle, have swarmed over the urban landscape for weeks allowed by our leaders. Gay Pride cancelled due to Covid 19, but not All Black Lives Matter resist protest which replaced Gay PrideSo. Now the organizers have to pull a permit for a planned protest to shut down streets for approval by the city. The cornavirus has now exploded. The cause and effect model is so simple and obvious, only the Radical corrupt -owned media could ignore it.… Read more »
There is a significant threat of Coronavirus being transmitted by aerosols that accumulate in poorly ventilated venues. Heavy breathing from working-out exacerbates the problem. Most gyms don’t offer fresh air. Outdoor workouts/exercise are the safer option. Changes are made to keep people healthy and alive, they’re not done to punish.
Greg – I understand everything you said. However, at the gym everyone is wearing masks. So there should be two layers of protection from when an infected person person breathes out through his/her mask, to the droplets entering someones mouth through his/her mask. It’s not perfect, but I’ve made the educated decision to go to the gym and not fly across the country to see my older/at-risk parents. Based on those facts, why shouldn’t i be allowed to go?
Can any 24 Hour Fitness WeHo members comment on behavior/ hygiene there while they were reopened?
i walked by and saw about 1/2 wearing masks while using the treadmills.
Am I right to think you didn’t have to wear a mask while exercising?
Thank you,
Jay
Masks are required. Gloves were also going to be required beginning today. Everyone is wearing masks. On a side note, I lift at 24 Hour Fitness but wouldn’t feel comfortable being in the treadmill room.
Long periods of indoor air circulation are believed to help spread the virus. Cloth face masks primarily protect you from spreadIng the virus, and minimal protection from getting it.
Steve. Understood. So there is a small risk that if someone was infected with the virus, that despite my mask, social distance, low capacity – i could get the virus. I know that. I made the decision to go to the gym for exercise/health reasons, and not fly across the country to see my higher risk parents. I’m doing complete social distance at home with my husband. Limiting my interaction with friends. Doing everything that i’m supposed to…and in return, i’m now no longer able to work out.
Everyone has different situations. The masks aren’t a 100% way of eliminating transmission. I’m not sure which gym you go to, but at Crunch, it was actually BUSIER than normal. There was no way to social distance there. Newsom made the decision to avoid a public health crisis. We now have a new high number for cases today July 14th.