As we are about midway through the second full week of the 15-Day Presidential Coronavirus deadlines, the fast-paced life of California has certainly certainly slowed down.
The Golden State is third in the number of Wuhan Coronavirus cases, behind New York and New Jersey, with 2,662 cases and 96 deaths. Meanwhile, some politicians have taken it upon themselves to enact drastic policies to ensure that the number of cases don’t rise substantially.
For example, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced actions against nonessential businesses that fly in the face of American sensibilities, such as threatening to shut off water and power if they remain open.
“Garcetti said his office was still receiving daily reports of nonessential businesses that continued to operate as normal — behavior he called “irresponsible and selfish.”He also announced a “Safer at Home” business-ambassadors initiative that aims to bring about greater compliance from businesses that are ignoring the city’s order to close.Such businesses should also expect to get a warning call from local prosecutors before the city takes more aggressive action, including turning off their water and power, he said.
This tactic has been met with a great deal of reflection about the government intervention, the level of the city and state’s current response to the coronavirus, and what Los Angeles politicians should have prioritized before the crisis began.
Just imagine people like Garcetti in charge of programs like nationalized healthcare. I would imagine it would look like Italy’s system, where an age limit was established for intensive care.
Then there is the case of the LA County Sheriff who deemed gun-shops as nonessential after 1,700 prisoners had been released from County facilities due to the thread of coronavirus. He had to walk back a planned shutter of those stores.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff told FOX 11 on Tuesday night that enforcement efforts to close down local gun stores have been suspended after intervention from the county’s legal counsel.Sheriff Alex Villanueva told FOX 11 reporter Bill Melugin that county counsel Mary Wickham issued an opinion that gun stores can be classified as essential businesses under the Governor’s statewide executive order.
The decision on the gun shops wasn’t the only action that was reversed, either. Los Angeles County health officials backtracked on their announcement that a child died from coronavirus, indicating the case needed to be re-evaluated.
During their daily briefing, the county health department said the unidentified child from the city of Lancaster was among four new deaths.Hours later, after Governor Gavin Newsom had cited the death of the teenager as evidence the virus can strike anyone, the county issued a new statement.”Though early tests indicated a positive result for COVID-19, the case is complex and there may be an alternate explanation for this fatality” and the case will need evaluation by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the statement said.
It is always hard to make difficult decisions during a crisis, especially one involving a novel virus. But it is interesting that when it came to public health prior to the pandemic, such as the outbreak of typhus in the Los Angeles area, there wasn’t a robust effort to address the homeless problem that was the root cause.
One can only hope that Californians are using their time in isolation to re-evaluate their election-day choices.
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