As part of a lengthy presentation, LB Director of Health and Human Services Director Kelly Colopy mentioned the CA Dept. of Public Health Guidance (issued March 7) on mass gatherings and large events, summarizing and paraphrasing it as follows:

The guidance is really sort of, it increases protections and, what it does is over time it sort of says in this situation, which is where we are now, sort of be thinking about if you need to be canceling events. Be thinking about where people are coming from, make sure that your mentioning to people who are ill that they should remain home, make sure that if you're holding events that there's plenty of sinks with soap, a lot of hand sanitizers and tissues, that you're providing all the opportunity for people to stay healthy. If situation, and aAs the situation increases, what we may see is that these guidelines will increase as well.

So guidelines increase protections and possibly closures based on different exposure levels.

[LBREPORT.com published the full text of the Guidance on mass gatherings on March 7 within hours after its release. To our knowledge, LBREPORT.com is the only LB news outlet to date to provide the details for LB news consumers. To view the CA Dept. of Public Health March 7 Guidance on mass gatherings/large events, click here]

Ms. 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.

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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.

Wrapping up management's 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."

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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

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Although Long Beach is in Los Angeles County, Long Beach has its own separate Health Department. As previously reported by LBREPORT.com, on March 9 LB Health Officer Dr. Anissa Davis expressed a slightly different view than L.A. County regarding attendance at large gatherings by older people and those with health issues. Dr. Davis said they should "consider" whether to attend such events; L.A> County was more definite, recommending older persons, pregnant women and those with underlying health conditions not attend such events. Responding to an inquiry by LBREPORT.com on the matter, a city management spokesperson provided an explanation reported by LBREPORT.com at this link.

At the March 10 Council meeting, Dr. Davis told the Council that COVID-19 causes more severe illness than the flu. hitting older people and those with underlying medical conditions harder than others.

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