Full Notification

The City of West Hollywood is making every effort to respond to community needs during the coronavirus (COVID-19) public health emergency. At this time COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to increase significantly, causing alarm.

On Saturday, December 5, 2020, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed 44 new deaths and 8,948 new cases of COVID-19, capping off a three-day total of 25,402 new cases and a three-day average of 8,467 daily new cases. On the same day, officials from the California Department of Public Health announced that the Southern California region reached 12.5 percent Intensive Care Unit (ICU) availability. According to the State of California Regional State Stay at Home Order, which went into effect on Saturday, December 5, 2020, activation of the regional order is triggered in each of five regions in California if a region falls below a threshold of 15 percent ICU availability.

The City of West Hollywood is getting the word out that the State of California Regional Stay at Home Order has been activated for the Southern California region. The Regional Stay at Home Order takes effect on Sunday, December 6, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. and will remain in effect for at least three weeks. The region will be eligible to exit from the order on Monday, December 28, 2020 if ICU capacity projections for the following month are above or equal to 15 percent availability; the order may remain in effect if COVID-19 cases continue to surge, impacting hospitalization rates.

Everyone in California must adhere to the State Regional Stay at Home Order. Community members are required to stay at home as much as possible and minimize mixing to reduce unnecessary exposure, while still being able to do important things such as go to the doctor, buy groceries, pick-up take-out food, exercise, and worship outdoors.

“COVID-19 cases continue to rise very sharply in the region and this is a critical time for all of us to take prevention seriously,” said City of West Hollywood Mayor Lindsey P. Horvath. “Our healthcare workers are stretched to the limit and our regional ICU availability has dropped to an alarming new rate, just 12.5% in Southern California. Our public health experts implore that we now adhere to the State Regional Stay at Home Order. If you work in an essential sector or if you’re in public for essential needs, please be thoughtful about taking care of yourself and the people around you: wearing a mask, keeping a six-foot distance, and frequent hand-washing make a big impact on reducing community spread of COVID-19. This is an extremely challenging moment for our community, for our state, and for the country, but we will get through this by taking care of ourselves and of one another.”

According to the State Regional Stay at Home Order, the following sectors are required to close or remain closed for all operations:

• Indoor and outdoor playgrounds;
• Indoor recreational facilities;
• Hair salons and barbershops;
• Personal care services;
• Museums, zoos, and aquariums;
• Movie theaters;
• Wineries;
• Bars, breweries, and distilleries;
• Family entertainment centers;
• Cardrooms and satellite wagering;
• Limited services as defined by the state;
• Live audience sports; and
• Amusement parks.

Additionally, the State Regional Stay at Home Order requires the following sectors to have additional modifications in addition to 100 percent masking and physical distancing:

• Outdoor recreational facilities: Allow outdoor operation only without any food, drink, or alcohol sales. Additionally, overnight stays for recreational visits at campgrounds will not be permitted.
• Retail: Allow indoor operation at 20 percent capacity with entrance metering and no eating or drinking in the stores. Additionally, special hours should be instituted for seniors and others with chronic conditions or compromised immune systems.
• Shopping centers: Allow indoor operation at 20 percent capacity with entrance metering and no eating or drinking in the stores and all common areas closed. Additionally, special hours should be instituted for seniors and others with chronic conditions or compromised immune systems.
• Hotels and lodging: Allow to open for critical infrastructure support only.
• Restaurants: Allow only for take-out, pick-up, or delivery.
• Offices: Allow remote only except for critical infrastructure sectors where remote working is not possible.
• Places of worship and political expression: Allow outdoor services only.
• Entertainment production including professional sports: Allow operation without live audiences. Additionally, testing protocol and “bubbles” are highly encouraged.

The Order does not modify existing school guidance. Schools that are open under Los Angeles County protocols can continue to provide in-person instruction as permitted.

The following sectors are allowed to remain open with appropriate infectious disease preventative measures including 100 percent masking and physical distancing:

• Critical infrastructure;
• Non-urgent medical and dental care; and
• Childcare.

The State Regional Stay at Home Order follows a Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Temporary Targeted Health Officer Safer at Home Order which went into effect on Monday, November 30, 2020 advising individuals to stay at home, except to travel to and from essential businesses and activities. A summary is available from the LA County Public Health website. The Los Angeles County Health Officer Order will be modified to fully align with additional State of California Regional Stay at Home safety measures across sectors.
To adhere to State Regional Stay at Home Orders and LA County Public Health Order, playgrounds at Plummer Park and West Hollywood Park have been closed.

To respond to an increase in the number residents who will be staying at home at this time, the City of West Hollywood has suspended the following parking regulations until December 21, 2020: Permit parking enforcement on all residential streets; Street sweeping enforcement; and AM/PM peak hour enforcement on Fountain Avenue. Safety violations will continue to be enforced. Please contact the Parking Violations Bureau at (800) 687-2458 with all citation related questions.

The City of West Hollywood has declared a local emergency in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Individuals are advised, at this time, to stay at home as much as possible and limit close interactions to those in your household. When in public for essential needs, community members should maintain your space with social (physical) distancing of at least six feet, and cover your face. Public Health officials recommend that everyone continue to follow physical distancing and infection control directives and wear a clean face covering that securely covers both your nose and mouth when in in public. Additionally, people 65 years old or older and all people of any age with underlying health conditions should remain at home whenever possible; people in these categories should only leave their residences to seek medical care, exercise, or obtain food or other necessities.

West Hollywood City Hall is currently closed to the public and has suspended all in-person transactions. Most public City buildings, playgrounds, and facilities remain closed. City Hall remains accessible for business and essential services with transactions to be conducted by phone (323) 848-6400 and via the City’s website at www.weho.org.

City of West Hollywood coronavirus updates are available at www.weho.org/coronavirus and the City encourages community members to follow @wehocity on Twitter and Facebook and Instagram and turn on notifications for up-to-date information.

To view essential-business City meetings, tune in to WeHoTV at:

• www.weho.org/wehotv

Meetings can also be accessed via:

• www.youtube.com/wehotv
• Spectrum Channel 10 (in West Hollywood)
• SmartTV Apps: AndroidTV; AppleTV; FireTV; and Roku

For notifications by email, subscribe to the City’s E-Notifications at www.weho.org/email. Visit the City’s event and meetings calendar at www.weho.org/calendar and news archive at www.weho.org/news.
To receive urgent updates to your phone by text and to your email, text your ZIP code to 888-777.

For updates and information about the current numbers of COVID-19 cases in the United States, in the State of California, and in Los Angeles County, visit:

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
• California Department of Public Health (CDPH)www.cdph.ca.gov and covid19.ca.gov
• Los Angeles County Department of Public Health
  www.publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus

For reporters and members of the media seeking additional information about COVID-19 in Los Angeles County, please contact the LA County Department of Public Health Chief Communications Officer, Carl A. Kemp, at (213) 240-8144 or [email protected]. LA County Reopening Protocols, a COVID-19 Surveillance Interactive Dashboard, the Roadmap to Recovery, and additional details are available on its website at www.publichealth.lacounty.gov.
For reporters and members of the media seeking additional information about the City of West Hollywood, please contact the City of West Hollywood’s Public Information Officer, Sheri A. Lunn, at (323) 848-6391 or [email protected].