Los Angeles Coronavirus Update: Mayor Eric Garcetti Says, “All Retail Businesses Can Reopen” So Long As They Observe Proper Protocols

“Tonight,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said, “I want to announce new changes” to the restrictions put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The mayor said, as of tomorrow, the city will “allow all retail businesses” to let customers inside their stores so long as those businesses abide by COVID best practices.

“This is a good day for L.A.,” said Garcetti.

The reprieve does not include nail shops, salons or restaurants for dine in.

It does, however, include one of Hollywood’s favorite hiking spots. “Runyon Canyon is open,” said the mayor, before noting that there will be “counters” at the entrance to make sure Runyon doesn’t get too crowded. Also, the loop trail will only go one way, with everyone walking the same direction.

Garcetti’s retail announcement comes just days after L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn petitioned California Governor Gavin Newsom alleging that decisions to let big box retailers to remain open have created “winners and losers,” widely impacting smaller retailers. “This needs to change,” the supervisor wrote.

Angelenos who took advantage of newly loosened coronavirus restrictions and flocked to beaches and trails over Memorial Day weekend amid returned to work (or not) on Tuesday to hear that the county had seen the largest spike in positive COVID-19 tests since the pandemic began.

Ironically, on the same day that Garcetti made his announcement, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed 27 new deaths and 1,843 new cases of coronavirus, the highest number of new cases it has reported in a single day. The county public health department, however, was quick to point out that some of these cases are from a backlog of test results.

Garcetti attributed the spike to the “compression of cases” over the long weekend. He said the average was about 1,200 new cases a day.

Most every recent week has seen an increase in test results by Tuesday or Wednesday as a bottleneck of results loosens up, but no spike has been as large as Tuesday’s.

This, as the health department approved the reopening of beach bike paths and parking lots, indoor mall curbside service and select vehicle parades late last week.

For comparison, the county confirmed 1,072 new cases on Friday.

Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House’s coronavirus response coordinator, identified Los Angeles and two other major metro areas on Friday as places of concern because they have a “persistent high number of cases”

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