LBREPORT.com has previously published (March 7) the full text of CA Dept of Public Health guidances on COVID-19 related to schools, colleges/universities, mass gatherings and (by another agency in Governor's office March 11) regading homeless populations for our readers -- not just press releases or Tweets about them -- and we do so in full below. (The full guidance can be viewed at this link.)

CA Dept. of Public Health March 11 guidance text]

To protect public health and slow the rate of transmission of COVID-19, gatherings as described below should be postponed or canceled across the state of California for at least the remainder of the month of March.

The California Department of Public Health finds the following:

• Large gatherings that include 250 people or more should be postponed or canceled.
  • This includes gatherings such as concerts, conferences, and professional, college, and school sporting events.

• Smaller gatherings held in venues that do not allow social distancing of six feet per person should be postponed or canceled.
  • This includes gatherings in crowded auditoriums, rooms or other venues.

• Gatherings of individuals who are at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19 should be limited to no more than 10 people.
  • This includes gatherings such as those at retirement facilities, assisted living facilities, developmental homes, and support groups for people with health conditions.

• A "gathering" is any event or convening that brings together people in a single room or single space at the same time, such as an auditorium, stadium, arena, large conference room, meeting hall, cafeteria, or any other indoor or outdoor space.

  This applies to all non-essential professional, social, and community gatherings regardless of their sponsor. Gatherings that do not meet the aforementioned criteria should only be conducted when they are essential—that is, if the activity is essential and could not be postponed or achieved without gathering, meaning that some other means of communication could not be used to conduct the essential function.

  [Scroll down for further.]

  [Scroll down for further.]

What will this achieve?

The timely implementation of aggressive strategies that create social distance and those that reduce close contact of people not regularly together, including limiting gatherings, has proven effective in prior pandemics at delaying rates of transmission and reducing illness and death.

By decreasing the prevalence of disease across California we will:

• Reduce the number of Californians who contract COVID-19 before an effective treatment or vaccine is available.
• Protect those most likely to experience severe symptoms, such as older Californians and those with underlying chronic conditions.
• Preserve and protect our health care delivery system, including our health care workforce, so they can care for the least healthy individuals in the community for any medical condition, not just COVID-19.
• Minimize the social and economic impacts of COVID-19 over the long run.

How long will these limitations apply?

This guidance will remain in place at least through the month of March. As with all guidance that relates to COVID-19 response, authorities will revisit this guidance on a regular basis to evaluate the continued public health need for it and to evaluate if any elements need to be changed. To stay informed, continue to monitor this link: https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/Guidance.aspx

What is Social Distancing and how is it achieved?

Social distancing is a practice recommended by public health officials to stop or slow down the spread of contagious diseases. It requires the creation of physical space between individuals who may spread certain infectious diseases. The key is to minimize the number of gatherings as much as possible and to achieve space between individuals when events or activities cannot be modified, postponed, or canceled.

Although the Department expects most events with more than 250 attendees to be postponed or canceled, we emphasize that the venue space does matter. Achieving space between individuals of approximately six feet is advisable. Additionally, there is a particular focus on creating space between individuals who have come together on a one-time or rare basis and who have very different travel patterns such as those coming from multiple countries, states or counties.

What can be done to a make a gathering safer if it is essential or small?

• Stagger activities.
• Add frequency of an event to spread out attendance, e.g. hold more, smaller gatherings.
• Add distance between where individuals sit or stand around tables.
• Add additional hand washing stations and restrooms.
• Limit the number of people in lines.
• Avoid direct physical contact, such as hand-shaking, holding hands, and hugging.
• Extend hours to allow for staggering of attendance or participation.
• Use phones, videos or video conferencing to reduce the need for close interactions.
• Consider ways to encourage anyone with fever and respiratory symptoms to stay home when sick, such as
  • Offering refunds or support reselling of tickets for persons who become ill.
  • Placing messages on websites, tickets, and venue entrances reminding people to protect one another by staying home if sick.

  Examples of Essential Events this Does Not Apply To

  The goal of this recommendation is to prevent people physically coming together unnecessarily, where people who have the infection can easily spread it to others. This guidance does not apply to activities such as attendance at regular school classes, work, or essential services.

  Please see the guidance for schools document for additional information.

  Certain activities are essential to the functioning of our state and must continue. Hence, this does not apply to essential public transportation, airport travel, or shopping at a store or mall. Other specific guidance can be found on the CDPH website to help people take actions that can protect them in those settings.

  This does not apply to congregate living situations, including dormitories and homeless encampments. For more information on what can be done to protect homeless individuals, please see the Guidance for Homeless Assistance Providers on Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) (PDF).

Sponsor

Sponsor

As previously reported by LBREPORT.com, on March 10, Long Beach city management told LB's City Council that based on then-current conditions, the City hasn't recommended canceling upcoming events in Long Beach. None of LB's policy-setting City Councilmembers present (Uranga and Austin were absent) questioned or publicly disagreed with this..

LB Health & Human Services Director Kelly Colopy told the Council: "Many places are canceling events outside of the guidelines. At this time, we're not recommending cancellations but this may change as the situation evolves." She added: "So the situation is ever changing...As things escalate, if they escalate, recommendations for closures, cancellations, different HR policies, things like that may change. What we're reporting today is the status today, and we will be in constant communication with you and with our community as our teams prepare for the situations as they arise.

Sponsor

Sponsor

In response to a question from 2nd district Councilwoman Jeannine Pearce about those planning forthcoming big events, Acting City Manager Tom Modica responded:

...We are looking at events. We look at them first from a safety perspective, so is it safe to do it, so in a lot of those we don't like at the financial perspective, we say is it a safety thing. So we are going to have some decisions coming up about certain events that are planned. Of course the event promoters at any time can decide what they want to do with their event. But the City at some point may need to make decisions whether we're going to do allow those events to ccntinue or not. Again, as of today we are not at that point given what we know, but those are questions that we'll be working with our City Attorney and Economic Development if there's anything we can do.

Sponsor

Wrapping up management's March 10 presentation, Acting City Manager Modica said: "At our current phase, we are not saying that all major events need to be canceled. That might change in the future. We are seeing certain ones change, but that will be all situational dependent" and added: "There are tough questions being posed and the team is asking those tough questions so that we can confront those issues and plan for them. We are scenario planning for multiple potential eventualities."

Sponsor

Sponsor

.

No Councilmembers or city management explicitly mentioned Long Beach's biggest annual event -- the Grand Prix.-- scheduled April 17-19, 2020. The privately organized/presented event, closely coordinated with the City of Long Beach, annually draws roughly 180,000 people to downtown LB, filling LB hotels (producing hotel room tax for City Hall) and giving an annual boost to local restaurants and night spots.

On March 4, Grand Prix Association of Long Beach President/CEO issued the following statement:

[March 4 statement] We are actively monitoring the situation and working with the Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health as well as the Centers for Disease Control to ensure the health, safety and well-being of our attendees which is our top priority. Some of ht precautions we and our partners will be taking include making sure all of our attendees have access to fully stocked hand washing stations as well as an alcohol based sanitizer. In addition, we will ensure that frequently touched surfaces are routinely cleaned and disinfected. At this time [March 4], the threat to the general public is low and there are no changes planned to the regular operation of our event this April 17-19.

On Sunday March 8, the Los Angeles Marathon was held, drawing roughly 25,000 runners n addition to attending crowds) On March 5, the L.A. County Dept. of Public Health issued a guidance "for participants and spectators" in the event "about protecting themselves" against COVID-19.

"We are not currently recommending the suspension of any large public events, including the LA Marathon," said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health.

Spectators Public Health recommends that spectators who are sick with even mild illness remain at home. Those planning to attend should engage in social distancing -- a term used to stop or slow the spread of a contagious disease -- and keep a distance of at least 6 feet between you and another person who is not your family member or friend. Please do not share food or water bottles, avoid shaking hands, and frequently wash hands or use hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol, particularly before eating, after using the restroom and after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.

Runners For runners planning to participate in the marathon, if you feel sick even with mild illness on the day of the marathon, please do not participate. The recommendations are that you wash your hands or use hand sanitizer prior to the start of the race, and do not shake hands with other participants or the public along the course. Please do not share water or food with other runners and frequently use hand sanitizer provided to you along the course

---

Support really independent news in Long Beach. No one in LBREPORT.com's ownership, reporting or editorial decision-making has ties to development interests, advocacy groups or other special interests; or is seeking or receiving benefits of City development-related decisions; or holds a City Hall appointive position; or has contributed sums to political campaigns for Long Beach incumbents or challengers. LBREPORT.com isn't part of an out of town corporate cluster and no one its ownership, editorial or publishing decisionmaking has been part of the governing board of any City government body or other entity on whose policies we report. LBREPORT.com is reader and advertiser supported. You can help keep really independent news in LB similar to the way people support NPR and PBS stations. We're not non-profit so it's not tax deductible but $49.95 (less than an annual dollar a week) helps keep us online.

---

blog comments powered by Disqus

---