Los Angeles May Celebrate Fourth Of July Indoors Due To Coronavirus

UPDATED: The only fireworks you see this weekend might be on TV.

The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Lost Hills Station said via Twitter that Los Angeles County beaches, piers, beach bike paths and beach access points will be closed Friday through Monday for the Fourth of July weekend.

The Lost Hills station, which is local to Malibu, issued the following statement:

Today, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors announced the closure of our beaches, piers, beach bike paths, and beach access points beginning 7/3/2020 through 7/6/2020. The Malibu/Lost Hills Station Beach Team will be patrolling the beaches throughout the weekend and late into the evening. This new order makes it illegal to trespass at these locations and is punishable by law to include, but not limited to, a $1000 fine.

Please follow the LA County Health Mandates. We want to ensure the health and safety of all our residents.

The news was later confirmed in a tweet by L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn who wrote, “We cannot risk having crowds at the beach this holiday weekend.”

That, as a heat wave sets in, with near-100 degree temperatures forecast in the Valley by Sunday.

PREVIOUSLY, MONDAY 4:10 PM On Monday, the State of California and the County of Los Angeles both set record highs in new cases. Officials at both levels of government were quick to warn that more restrictive measures may be in the offing.

California Governor Gavin Newsom indicated that he would likely be using the “dimmer switch” to toggle back reopening measures in more hard-hit counties. He said there were seven counties, including Los Angeles, that likely would need to step back their reopenings. If counties are not effective with preventative measures, the state will intervene and close them back down, he said. If counties’ remediation measures are not effective, “I am committed to intervening,” he said.

“Immediate action is needed,” said L.A. County Department of Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer, before warning that increased restrictions may be in the offing.

Asked about the upcoming Fourth of July holiday weekend, Ferrer said, “We are looking at, with our beach mayors, all the options to keep ourselves safe.” Asked if this is a make-or-break week, Ferrer continued, “We can’t sustain this rate of increase in positive cases. This train can be a runaway train if we don’t put the breaks on it. We have to get our heads back into this new normal.”

Both Ferrer and Newsom warned about the impact that even small family gatherings and barbecues could have if they included mixing households.

A report from the L.A. Times today States, “It’s now clear that Memorial Day was the beginning of something. A Los Angeles Times analysis has found that new coronavirus hospitalizations in California began accelerating around June 15 at a rate not seen since early April.”

Memorial Day was on May 25 this year. That’s also about the same time the protests against the death George Floyd and police brutality began. The spike to which the Times refers occurred a little more than two weeks later (14 days is the outside incubation period for COVID-19).

So what does all this mean for the upcoming holiday weekend?

Well, on Friday Governor Newsom ordered hard-hit Imperial County to return to stay-at-home status. On Monday, Newsom said that there were seven counties, including Los Angeles, that likely would need to step back their reopenings. If counties are not effective in the measures, the state will intervene and close them back down, he said.

“We are considering a number of other things to advance and we will make those announcements as appropriate,” said Newsom, “augmenting the orders and advancing even more restrictive ones.”

In fact, the governor could not even wait for his noon press conference today to order bars shut down in those seven counties. He issued that order midday Sunday. It is unlikely, if the numbers continue to escalate, that he will wait until after the long holiday weekend to begin “augmenting” the current restrictions.

California’s new daily total of infections on Monday was 5,916. It was only two weeks ago that the state first broke the 5,000 new cases mark.

In Los Angeles, Ferrer said on Monday that the county saw 2,903 new cases, a record high. The coronavirus has now infected a total of 100,772 people in L.A. County. The cumulative test positivity rate has increased from 8 percent to now 9 percent, according to the health department.

That does not bode well for the Fourth.

City News Service contributed to this report.