With some essential businesses in the state of California predicted to reopen as early as tomorrow in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Stage 2 plan, Culver City continues to enforce its Safer at Home order, and will not be reopening businesses this week.
The Stage 2 plan, which is to be released today, is part of a four phase plan to safely reopen California. According to the breakdown of the plan done by ABC 7, phase 2 will include the opening of “lower risk workplaces,” such as non-essential manufacturing, schools, child care, facilities, and curbside pickup for retail businesses.
In it’s daily coronavirus update released that night, Culver City announced that it would follow the guidance of other local cities to determine the best course of action.
“As Culver City is nestled in a densely populated county, which has seen over half of the COVID-19 deaths in the state, we will continue to monitor and comply with the guidance of local health officials and move in concert with fellow cities in the region,” the announcment read. “Currently, the local Safer at Home order is set to expire on May 15.”
In a seperate statement, the city also announced that the businesses expected to be outlined in the guidelines would not open, citing a similar decision by Los Angeles County.
“The City will only update its ‘Safer at Home’ public order to allow businesses to re-open after the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health indicates that it is safe to do so.”
The city also stated that it expects Safer at Home orders to be extended around the county due to the high concentration of cases, but no definitive information has been released as of press time.
“Generally, both Los Angeles County residents and businesses can expect the re-opening of non-essential businesses to be slower here than in other parts of the state.”
As of Monday at 8 p.m., there were 27,815 cases in Los Angeles County, with 85 of those confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the city of Culver City. 32 of those cases are residents at Culver West Health Center, and 12 employees also tested positive for the virus.
Four residents and one employee at both Marina Pointe Healthcare and Subacute center and the Southern California Hospital Culver City — formerly known as Brotman Hospital — tested positive for the virus, while three employees and two residents at Sunrise Villa tested positive.
With 1,313 deaths reported from the virus, the virus mortality rate in the county is 4.7%.
To stay up to date on the city’s coronavirus response, visit their coronavirus webpage at https://www.culvercity.org/live/public-safety/emergency-preparedness/current-disaster-information (go to culvercity.org > Live > Public Safety > Emergency Preparedness > Learn More about Coronavirus).