LA hotels refusing to take in homeless during coronavirus pandemic may be 'commandeered' by city council
The Los Angeles City Council threatens to 'commandeer' hotels refusing to house the homeless; California broker Art Avaness reacts.
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Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti on Wednesday warned that the city will “never be fully open” until there is a cure for the novel coronavirus that has put the nation on lockdown and brought the economy to a near standstill.
The Democratic mayor made the shocking comments during an appearance on "Good Morning America," one day after city officials announced Los Angeles would likely be extending its stay-at-home order for another three months.
“This past weekend we opened up our trails, we have retail for curbside pickup, we’ll see that expanded, and even some active recreation on our beaches this coming weekend,” Garcetti said. “We’ve never been fully closed. We’ll never be completely open until we have a cure.”
Garcetti urged residents to take the virus seriously because it “is as dangerous today as it was the first day that it arrived in our cities and our country.”
"There's no so-called 'open state' or 'open country' that doesn’t continue to have health orders telling us to cover our faces, physically distance and to tell people that you’re safest working from and staying at home,” Garcetti said. "We can't expect that to disappear in a matter of weeks or even a few months."
At a Tuesday Board of Supervisors meeting, County Public Health Director Barabara Ferrer said the order will be extended “with all certainty,” possibly until July or August, the Los Angeles Times reported.
"Our hope is that by using the data we'd be able to slowly lift registrations over the next three months," she said. "But without widely available therapeutic testing for the coronavirus or rapid at-home testing versions that would allow people to test themselves daily, it seems unlikely that restrictions would be completely eased."
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California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday that the state is giving counties the authority to loosen restrictions, like allowing shopping malls to reopen with curbside pickup.
“We are entering into the next phase this week,” Newsom said in a press conference. “This is a very positive sign and it is happening for only one reason: The data says it can happen."
LA beaches were permitted to open Wednesday, though beachgoers must wear face masks and may not sunbathe, or picnic, the Times reported.
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As of Wednesday, Los Angeles County has confirmed more than 33,200 cases of the coronavirus with 1,617 deaths, according to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University.
Fox News’ Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
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