The county of Los Angeles, the main home of Covid-19 in California will temporarily close its beaches next weekend, a public holiday in the United States to try to stem a renewed contamination.
"Due to the increase in Covid-19 cases, all beaches in Los Angeles County will be temporarily closed again this weekend, July 3-6," county official Janice Hahn wrote on Twitter.
Due to rising # COVID19 cases all @CountyofLA beaches will be closing again temporarily this weekend, July 3rd through 6th. We had almost 3,000 reported cases just today. We cannot risk having crowds at the beach this holiday weekend.
- Janice Hahn (@SupJaniceHahn) June 29, 2020The beaches had been closed for weeks at the height of the epidemic but had gradually reopened in recent weeks. However, the wearing of masks, which is compulsory in public places, was relatively little respected on some of them, sometimes with almost one in two people circulating with their faces uncovered, according to observers on the spot.
No risk taking
According to Janice Hahn, 3,000 new cases have been identified in the past 24 hours. "We cannot take the risk of having crowds at the beach during this holiday weekend," she adds.
In total, more than 100,000 cases have been identified in Los Angeles County. Already on Sunday, the governor of California ordered the closure of bars in Los Angeles and six other counties in this state due to the resumption of contamination.
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Los Angeles County health officials said inspections last week showed that 49% of bars and 33% of restaurants did not follow social distancing guidelines. In addition, 54% of bar workers inspected and 44% of restaurant workers did not wear a mask or visor as required by law.