COVID-19 Emergency Operations Center
LOS ANGELES COUNTY UPDATE
Contact:
Los Angeles County Joint Information Center – COVID-19
pio@ceooem.lacounty.gov (link opens in new tab)
COUNTY APPROVES $1.22 BILLION CARES ACT SPENDING PACKAGE FOR COVID-19 SUPPORT TO RESIDENTS AND BUSINESSES, REOPENING PROTOCOLS FOR PERSONAL CARE SERVICES, AND INCIDENT REPORT
The County of Los Angeles is regularly updating resources on COVID-19 and offers today’s update in an effort to keep you and yours informed. Please share the following up-to-date information:
County Approves $1.22 Billion CARES Act Spending Package for Funding COVID-19 Support to Residents & Businesses
LA County has approved a $1.22 billion CARES Act spending package to fund a broad range of essential services and relief measures to assist County residents and businesses affected by the COVID-19 crisis.
The plan covers spending in four (4) main areas:
- $656 million for public health measures including testing and contact tracing
- $200 million for financial support for residents in the form of assistance for rent relief, food and child care
- $160 million in grants to support small businesses
- $150 million to support the County workforce’s response to the emergency, including disaster services workers and personal protective equipment for employees
The plan also includes nearly $55 million to cover contingencies including potential health care system surges and other urgent needs that may emerge as the pandemic continues.
Major allocations include $226 million for community-based COVID-19 diagnostic testing and $100 million for rent relief to assist residents countywide. Funds were also allocated to programs to assist vulnerable people during the crisis, including $148 million for Project Roomkey, which provides temporary housing to medically at-risk people experiencing homelessness. Other allocations include $10 million allocated to the L.A. Regional Food Bank for food distribution events; $60 million to support other nutritional programs; $15 million for the Great Plates delivery program for seniors and medically at-risk adults; and $15 million for child care vouchers for low-income families and essential workers.
For a full list of program allocations, click here (link opens in new tab).
JUST IN: County Issues Reopening Protocols for Hair Salons, Barbershops & Personal Care Establishments Allowed to Offer Certain Services Outdoors
Today, LA County’s Department of Public Health (DPH) has issued reopening protocols for hair salons, barbershops and personal care establishments in the County. The following are highlights from today’s protocols, which have been updated to reflect new State guidance:
- Businesses must establish an outdoor reception area where customers can check in while still following physical distancing guidelines
- Services that cannot be performed safely outdoors (or that would require a customer to have to enter the establishment) are not permitted.
- For additional guidance on permissible outdoor services, click here.
- For the latest from the Board of Barbering & Cosmetology, click here.
- Outdoor shaded areas can be configured to block wind, but cannot be enclosed or partially enclosed on more than one side
- Businesses must comply with the Cal/OSHA standard for heat illness prevention for outdoor workers, including an effective heat illness prevention plan with written procedures on:
- Access to water, shade, and cool down breaks; emergency procedures for heat illness cases; monitoring of employees who are acclimatizing during a heat wave; and training on heat illness prevention and symptoms
- For resources (including Cal/OSHA FAQs, a webinar and a sample written plan), visit the Cal/OSHA heat illness prevention page.
- All establishments operating outdoors should have Cal/OSHA standard heat illness prevention plans and written procedures, as moving work outdoors creates additional hazards including the possibility of heat illness.
- Businesses offering electrology, tattooing, microblading & permanent make-up, and piercing services may not operate outside because they are invasive procedures that require a controlled hygienic environment to be performed safely.
- Businesses must establish an outdoor reception area where customers can check in while still following physical distancing guidelines.
- Businesses which offer pedicures outdoors shall be limited to portable tubs/bowls & must be cleaned and disinfected with an EPA-registered liquid disinfectant that is labeled as a bactericide, fungicide and virucide (refer to manufacturer’s instruction on mixture). Disinfection should occur inside the nail salon & not in the temporary outdoor setting.
Visit DPH online at publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus (link opens in new tab) to learn more.
Great Plates Delivered Program Extended
Great news, Great Plates Delivered has been extended until August 9th. Through LA County’s Great Plates Delivered Program, you can help a local senior or business in your community.
Great Plates Delivered offers eligible seniors with three (3) home-delivered meals a day. Seniors over 65, seniors 60-64 years of age who have been diagnosed or exposed to COVID-19 or those at high-risk for COVID-19 may qualify. When you help a senior connect to Great Plates Delivered you’re also helping your local restaurant, hospitality and transportation community get back to work.
To learn more or apply for meal assistance, Click here (link opens in new tab).
Incident Report
Our daily report is a high-level summary of L.A. County Emergency Operations Center’s response to the COVID-19 health emergency. Click here (link opens in new tab) to view.
COVID-19 Digital Communications Guide & Toolkit
View (link opens in new tab) our updated COVID-19 Digital Communications Guide, and get tips on Best Practices, Do’s and Don’ts, Key Messaging, and our Social Media Toolkit – with multi-lingual graphics and messages like the ones seen below.
Access our Social Media Toolkit here (link opens in new tab)
A COVID-19 test does not protect you from the virus, and a negative result should not be seen as a reason to engage in risky social behavior.
S Chinese: COVID-19測試不能保護您免受病毒感染,陰性結果不應被視為從事危險社交行為的理由。
Korean: COVID-19 검사는 바이러스로부터 당신을 보호하지 않으며 음성 결과가 위험한 사회적 행동을 하는 이유로 간주되어서는 안됩니다.
Spanish: Una prueba COVID-19 no lo protege del virus, y un resultado negativo no debe verse como una razón para participar en un comportamiento social de riesgo.
THE ABCs OF CONTACT TRACING, COUNTY PROBATION TOWNHALL, AND INCIDENT REPORT
The ABCs of Contact Tracing
Contact tracing is a simple, confidential process that has been used by public health departments for decades to slow the spread of infectious diseases and avoid outbreaks.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the County has deployed nearly 1,600 contact tracers and an additional 900 are currently being trained. These trained specialists come from LA County’s Department of Public Health (DPH), as well other County Departments, the State, and the City of Los Angeles.
To help LA County flatten the COVID-19 curve, understand the ABCs of contact tracing:
- If you have tested positive for COVID-19, expect a contact tracer to contact you by phone to ask you about the places you have been, and the people you have been around while you were infectious.
- The people you tell us about will also be contacted, but will not be told your name or contact information. They will also be asked to stay home to help prevent others from getting sick.
- If you have been in contact with someone with COVID-19, expect a contact tracer to contact you by phone to ask you if you are experiencing any symptoms, have been tested, and to ask about places that you may have been to.
- In order to avoid you getting mixed up with another person, please provide contact tracers with complete and correct information.
- Contact tracers will provide you with information on next steps based on your responses. They may call you more than once to check how you are doing during your 14 days at home, and will provide you with information on how to find a doctor and/or access COVID-19 testing.
- Contact tracers will leave a call back number if necessary. If they cannot reach you by phone, they will send a letter.
- Please answer their calls & call them back if they leave a message. The information you provide is protected by HIPAA. To understand how important this is, hear from our contract tracers below:
- Please note a contact tracer will never ask you for a social security number, payment, information about your finances, documented status, or detailed health information.
- LA County DPH has a hotline for confirmed cases of COVID-19. If you have not yet connected with a contact tracer, call the COVID-19 Case Info Line toll-free at 1-833-540-0473.
Contact tracing is an important tool for helping flatten the curve in LA County. And now that you know more about it, we hope you’ll work closely with our contact tracers, should they have a need to call you down the road.
For more information, visit us online at covid19.lacounty.gov/contact-tracing.
County Probation Townhall
LA County’s Probation Department is hosting a virtual townhall this Wednesday, July 22 to discuss COVID-19 response in the County’s juvenile halls and camps, as well as impacts on adult and juvenile field operations. The townhall will include representatives from LA County’s Departments of Mental Health (DMH), Health Services (DHS), Public Health (DPH) and the Office of Education (LACOE).
- Wednesday, July 22, 2020 at 2:00 P.M.
- Click here (link opens in new tab), when the time comes, to join the townhall.
- Submit questions in advance at prob-news@probation.lacounty.gov (link opens in new tab) or in the Q&A box during the townhall.
Learn more about Probation’s COVID-19 response at probation.lacounty.gov/coronavirus (link opens in new tab).
It’s important to reserve testing for those who have a medical or public health reason for testing.
S Chinese: 為那些有醫療或公共衛生原因的人保留檢測是很重要的。
Korean: 의료 또는 공중 보건 사유가 있는 사람들을 위해 검사 예약을 비워두는 것이 중요합니다.
Spanish: Es importante reservar la prueba para aquellos que tienen un motivo médico o de salud pública para la prueba
Additional Resources
The County of Los Angeles appreciates your continued partnership in responding to COVID-19 questions and needs of residents. For additional information, please visit:
- County of Los Angeles: covid19.lacounty.gov (link opens in new tab)
- County of Los Angeles Public Health: publichealth.lacounty.gov (link opens in new tab)
- California Department of Public Health: cdph.ca.gov (link opens in new tab)
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: cdc.gov (link opens in new tab)
Los Angeles County residents can also call 2-1-1