LOS ANGELES MAYOR WANTS TO POSTPONE CONCERTS, AND LARGE PUBLIC GATHERINGS, UNTIL 2021; NEW ORLEANS MAYOR CONCURS

Dakota Smith and Ben Welsh of the Los Angeles Times reports:

Los Angeles may hold off on allowing big gatherings until 2021 because of the coronavirus threat, according to an internal Los Angeles Fire Department email reviewed by The Times.

Mayor Eric Garcetti raised the issue during his weekly briefing Monday with a group of high-level staff from several departments, including Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas. Garcetti indicated during the conference call that “large gatherings such as concerts and sporting events may not be approved in the city for at least one year,” according to the email…

…Fire Department spokesman Peter Sanders said Tuesday that Terrazas was “paraphrasing information he received from the mayor regarding possible scenarios for reopening timelines across a range of events.”

Garcetti spokesman Alex Comisar confirmed the mayor’s comments at the meeting. “The mayor was generally referencing studies of current and historical data and best practices for safely reopening our economy,” Comisar said.

Comisar said the mayor doesn’t have a timeline for Los Angeles to begin resuming large-scale events. Garcetti himself has repeatedly told Angelenos during his nightly press briefings that it would be a mistake to reopen businesses and stores before the pandemic can be controlled…

…The coronavirus pandemic has caused the cancellation of sporting, music and cultural events across the globe.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday that events that draw hundreds or thousands of strangers will be off limits for the near future, based on current guidelines. The state needs to boost testing, protect high-risk residents from infection and expand hospital capacity before the stay-at-home order imposed last month can be modified, he said.

“The prospect of mass gatherings is negligible at best until we get to herd immunity and we get to a vaccine,” Newsom said…

…Elsewhere, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell has recommended that large events in that city be pushed off until 2021, according to a local news report.

Read more at the Los Angeles Times.

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