Thursday, March 28

Los Angeles County issues targeted stay-at-home order, bans most gatherings


Los Angeles County issued a three-week targeted stay-at-home order Friday which limits gatherings to people from the same household.(Kanishka Mehra/Photo editor)


This post was updated Nov. 29 at 6:18 p.m.

Los Angeles County will ban most gatherings starting Monday under a three-week targeted stay-at-home order issued Friday due to a late-November surge of COVID-19 cases.

The restriction limits indoor and outdoor gatherings to people from the same household and advises residents to stay inside as much as possible, according to a Friday Los Angeles County Department of Public Health press release. The restrictions do not apply to church services or protests, which, according to the order, are protected by the constitution.

The order will last until Dec. 20.

The Friday order is less strict than the first LACDPH stay-at-home order from March, which also banned gatherings but closed most nonessential businesses. Nonessential retail businesses, outdoor fitness centers and some other nonessential businesses can remain open under the Friday order but will have to limit occupancy to a percentage determined by the county and require customers to wear masks and stay six feet apart.

Beaches, trails and parks can remain open under the order.

The LACDPH announced mid-November it would enact a targeted stay-at-home order if the county passed a five-day average of 4,500 new COVID-19 cases after a surge in COVID-19 cases. The county met that metric less than a week later, on Nov. 23.

The county previously banned indoor and outdoor dining because of the rise of COVID-19 cases. The state also put a curfew on multi-household gatherings in most California counties, including LA County.

LACDPH reported 4,544 new COVID-19 cases Friday, bringing its five-day average over 4,700.

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