L.A. Mayor Holds Off on New Stay-at-Home Order

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has announced he is holding off on imposing a stay-at-home order on the city, citing a decline in positivity rates in local COVID-19 testing results

Garcetti, in a news conference late Wednesday afternoon at Los Angeles City Hall, said the seven-day average of positive tests had declined to 10% from 13.6%. He also said that there had been a decline in the positivity rate at the city’s drive-up testing facilities.

The mayor said that the level of threat had remained “orange” rather than “red” — which would trigger a stay-at-home order. He also said he will not be closing any “additional businesses or activities” this week.

He also urged businesses to follow the reopening guidelines: “Businesses need to follow all the rules, all of the time. It’s not a pick and choose menu, you can’t decide which things you want to abide by in which you won’t.”

Garcetti’s announcement came three days after he delivered a warning Sunday during an appearance on CNN that the city was “on the brink” of imposing new restrictions to prevent the spread of the virus. Garcetti told the news organization that he agreed that reopening large sectors of the local economy in late May and early June happened too quickly.

Earlier Wednesday, Los Angeles County public health director Barbara Ferrer said that cases have been increasing, and that young adults are driving the new infections. The seven-day average of new cases is nearly double the figure of a month ago, and at an all-time high. However, she said the county would not order any new closures this week. “We have no anticipation this week of ordering a complete shutdown like we had in March,” she said.

Garcetti issued a stay-at-home order for the city of Los Angeles on March 19 on the same day Gov. Gavin Newsom also issued a statewide stay-at-home order.

Garcetti opened the news conference Wednesday by praising the signing of Los Angeles Dodger Mookie Betts to a 12-year $365 million contract extension. The Dodgers open their season Thursday, playing the San Francisco Giants without any spectators.

— Gene Maddaus contributed to this report.

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