May 22: Three More LB Firefighters Test Positive For COVID-19 (Worked In LBFD HQ); Mayor Garcia Notes No Major Spikes In COVID-19 Metrics Since Some Limited Activities Resumed Two Weeks Ago, Says City Disagrees With Governor's Office, Wants LB Judged For Reopenings Based On LB Health Dept. Data (Not L.A, County Numbers )

LBReport.com

News

May 22: Three More LB Firefighters Test Positive For COVID-19 (Worked In LBFD HQ); LB Deaths Rise To 70; Mayor Garcia Notes No Major Spikes In COVID-19 Metrics Since Some Limited Activities Resumed Two Weeks Ago, Says City Disagrees With Governor's Office, Wants LB Judged For Reopenings Based On LB Health Dept. Data (Not L.A. County Numbers)

If LBREPORT.com didn't tell you,
who would?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. Support 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.

Long Beach COVID-19 Cases / Deaths
Total positives (red dots) and deaths (black dots)	Daily new reported positive cases	LB Hospitalizations (from Apr. 20): Red bars = Snapshot 12:01 a.m. Blue bars = Updated daily

(May 22, 2020, 9:45 p.m.) -- On May 22, 2020, the City of Long Beach released the following information:

Three more LB Firefighters have tested positive for COVID-19. "The Firefighters work out of Fire Headquarters. One has since recovered and two are currently recovering at home in self-isolation. Two are residents of Long Beach and are included in the case count " As previously reported by LBREPORT.com in March, 8 LBFD firefighters at Station 11 tested positive, and that number grew to 16 in April.

LB's COVID-19 death toll has reached 70 (up from 68.) The two most recent deaths are both associated with LB long term care facilities (including one from yesterday (May 21.) 55 in total are associated with LB long term care facilities.

A total of 1,513 LB residents have tested positive for COVID-19 to date; roughly 1,024 have recovered.

60 are currently hospitalized (snapshot at 12:01 a.m. May 22)

Mayor Robert Garcia (we believe for the firs time publicly) signaled a disagreement between the position of the City of Long Beach and the office of Governor Gavin Newsom on a COVID-19 matter. In a measured stance -- that didn't disagree with the Governor's restrictions but rather how they're applied -- Mayor Garcia indicated he and the City have communicated to the Governor's staff that the City believes the state should decide reopenings in Lnng Beach based on Long Beach Health Deot, data instead of using L.A. County numbers.

The Governor's office currently bases its decisions on reopenings on numbers in each County. Mayor Garcia noted that LB has its own Health Dept, separate from L.A. County's Dept. of Public Health (and separate from Pasadena's Health Dept.) He said on that basis the state decide eopenings allowable in Long Beach based on conditons in Long Beach using LB Health Dept. data (not L.A. County figures.) ,

The above ad space donated by LBREPORT.com

At the same time, the Mayor acknowledged that Long Beach -- even if judged on its own data -- doesn't meet state standards at present...but said that might change and if/when it does, the City wants Long Beach judged based on Long Beach's data (not L.A. County data )

The Mayor's stance stops short of disagreeing with the state standards themselves.

Sponsor

Mayor Garcia noted that it's been two weeks since Long Beach began (May 8) allowing limited resumption of some recreational activities and some (far from all) non-essential business activities and thus far Long Beach hasn't seen major spikes in COVID-19 deaths or cases and said LB;s hospitalizations have in remained relatively stable (within a limited range.) He noted that LB's COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 residents and cases per 100,00o0 are both lower than L.A. County's rates.

Sponsor

The Mayor didn't publicly disagree with the state's current level of restrictions on reopenings. He said COVID-19 remains a serious health issue and urged the public to observe current LB restrictions during the upcoming Memorial Day weekend.

Sponsor

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

Recommend LBREPORT.com to your Facebook friends:

Follow LBReport.com with:

Twitter

Facebook

RSS

Return To Front Page

Adoptable pet of the week: