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Beaches To Be Closed for 4th of July; Manhattan Beach COVID Cases up 32 Percent in One Week

Jun 29, 2020 06:57PM ● By Jeanne Fratello

An empty Manhattan Beach Pier and beach area from back in April. Will the Fourth of July look like this?

As COVID-19 coronavirus cases continue to spike upward, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has ordered the closure of beaches for the Fourth of July weekend.

All Los Angeles County public beaches, piers, public beach parking lots, beach bike paths that traverse that sanded portion of the beach, and beach access points will be temporarily closed to the public as of 12:01 a.m. on July 3, 2020, until 5 a.m. on July 6, 2020. (Long Beach, with a separate health department, is exempt from this order.)

The move follows a sharp uptick in cases, both in Los Angeles County and in Manhattan Beach.  Los Angeles County just surpassed 100,000 total cases; and the total number of cases in Manhattan Beach has risen by 32 percent in the past week.

“Closing the beaches and prohibiting fireworks displays during this important summer holiday weekend was an incredibly difficult decision to make, but it’s the responsible decision to protect public health and protect our residents from a deadly virus," said Barbara Ferrer, L.A. County's Director of Public Health, in a statement. "The Fourth of July holiday weekend typically means large crowds and gatherings to celebrate, a recipe for increased transmission of COVID-19."

"We all need to take this virus more seriously and residents and business owners must do their part," continued Ferrer. "Physical distancing isn’t optional, wearing a face covering isn’t optional, spending time only with those you live with isn’t optional — these are requirements in the Health Officer Order and are the tools we have to protect each other, our families and those most vulnerable in our communities.”

On Monday, Los Angeles County announced more than 2,900 new cases of COVID-19, the single largest one-day case count since the pandemic began. The total number of cases county-wide is now at 100,772 since the pandemic began.

Manhattan Beach now has 131 total coronavirus cases, including 32 new cases in the past week. That represents a week-over-week jump of 32 percent. (That number is calculated starting from 99 total cases on June 22, to 131 total cases on June 29.)

The increases have been attributed to several factors, including increased testing, more re-openings, and large protests and rallies. However, the health department has said that the increase in cases is more than can be accounted for by increased testing alone.

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