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Mayor Garcetti orders bars, restaurants, venues to close to help prevent coronavirus spread

Updated  March 16, 2020 5:43pm PDT
Coronavirus
City News Service

Mayor Eric Garcetti orders L.A. businesses to close amid coronavirus outbreak

Several businesses were ordered to close by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti amid the coronavirus outbreak.

LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced on Sunday that he is taking executive action to temporarily close bars, nightclubs, restaurants (except takeout/delivery), entertainment venues and other establishments in the city effective at midnight and will stay in place until March 31 unless extended. He says he will hold remote briefings each day until the closures are over.

On Monday, Mayor Garcetti elevated the City's Emergency Operations Center to Level 1, the highest level of operations, to ensure that city teams can work together around the clock on the coronavirus crisis.

Additionally, the city will stop ticketing in areas with parking restrictions to ease the burden on those residents staying home during this crisis. Parking fines are frozen for the next 60 days, according to Mayor Garcetti.

You can watch Garcetti's press conference briefing through the mayor's Facebook page. 

Garcetti says he is also working on rolling out this week a loan-assistance program for small business affected by the coronavirus closures -- beginning with 400 businesses immediately, which are the most hard-hit -- and that donated funds from the public will also support impacted businesses.

In the meantime, Garcetti says the city is looking to stream all of its committee meetings and provide teleconferencing and remote methods of comment and will try to go beyond the minimum requirements under Governor Gavin Newsom's suspensions to some parts of the Brown Act, which mandates public participation in local legislative bodies.

Mayor Garcetti orders many LA businesses to close

The LA mayor's order Sunday night is far tougher than what Governor Newsom announced earlier today. or anything the president's task force is recommending, But Garcetti says it's necessary to save lives.

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On the mayor's Facebook page, his post also stated that there is no food shortage, and grocery stores will remain open.

Garcetti adds that this will be a tough time, but it is not forever. Angelenos have always risen to meet difficult moments, and we will get through this together.

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