Remember when they used to talk about the number of deaths?
Now they only talk about the infection rate. That’s while we have overwhelming evidence that the testing is a total hoax.
Gavin Newsom’s illicit dinner party is totally forgotten.
Los Angeles County health officials issued a new safer-at-home order Friday that includes stricter limits on going out and gatherings, as daily coronavirus cases surge.
The order goes into effect Monday and will run through Dec. 20 as cases of COVID-19 swell to disturbing levels. Officials warned that additional measures would be imposed if the county’s five-day threshold of new cases exceeds 4,500 or if hospitalizations reached more than 2,000.
Currently, 1,893 people remain hospitalized and 387,793 cases have been reported in the county.
On Friday, the county health department reported 4,554 new cases and 24 deaths. The current five-day average is 4,751 cases.
Under the new order, residents are being asked to stay home “as much as possible” and to wear a face covering outside.
Public and private gatherings with anyone outside one’s household are prohibited. Religious services and protests are exempted. Occupancy limits for retail businesses will be capped at 35%, malls at 20% and 50% for fitness centers.
Health officials raised concerns about a spike in transmissions before the Thanksgiving holiday and the upcoming holidays next month.
“With the recent surge of COVID-19 across our community, we must take additional safety measures to reduce the risk of illness and death from this terrible virus and protect our health care system,” said Barbara Ferrer, the county health director.
Face coverings must be worn for all outdoor recreation activities as well, except swimming. Beaches, parks and trails will remain open.
They’re including religious exemptions now, both because the protest exemptions were insane and because the Supreme Court has falsely claimed that religious protections in the Constitution are meant to go beyond the protections of normal businesses.
The Constitution actually says that religious institutions are guaranteed the same status as any other business, because the founders were afraid of religious institutions being suppressed. Reading this as “religious institutions are the only thing you’re not allowed to suppress” is almost the opposite of what it is meant to say. It is not legal in the Constitution to suppress and forcibly close any business, or tell any person who they’re allowed to meet with on private property.
We used to have very real public discussions about whether or not a state government was legally allowed to tell a felon on parole he’s not allowed to meet up with another felon, because Constitutional guarantees of free association are so strong (here’s a felon blog discussing that issue). Now, we’re allowing states to tell the entire population that they’re not allowed to hang out with the rest of the entire population?
Where is the Justice Department? Where is the ACLU? What even is this?