LA County cites dozens of businesses churches for coronavirus

More than 70 citations have been issued over the past month to various businesses and organizations — most notably churches and gyms — for violating health restrictions imposed to control spread of COVID-19, but Los Angeles County’s health officer said Thursday, Sept. 24 that no closures have been ordered. Dr. Muntu Davis said, however, that failures to adhere to the restrictions, particularly those barring many indoor business operations and worship services, can exacerbate virus spread.“Not just for us in terms of public health but others who are watching and monitoring the spread of this virus and trying to do everything we can to control it, it is concerning when we don’t have compliance with the measures that are needed in order to slow the spread of this within our county, ” Davis said in an online media briefing.“As we go through, we continue to look at all options that might be available to us, ” he said. “Of course, I can’t go into a lot of details on each case, but (we) continue to try to build what we need to in terms of getting compliance from everyone. This is really what’s needed at this point. Everybody has to do what they need to do in order to slow it down.“And at some point, you know, this may be a thing of the past, but until we get to that point, we really do need everyone’s cooperation and assistance. ”As of 2:30 p. m. on Thursday, the county had not yet released its daily coronavirus figures. According to figures posted on the county Department of Public Health website, 71 citations were issued “due to lack of compliance with Health Officer Orders” between Aug. 29 and Sunday. Several businesses were cited multiple times over that period, including a Coast Fitness facility in Hawthorne, which was cited at least four times; various locations of Crunch Fitness, including those in Cerritos, La Mirada and Lancaster; and Powerhouse Gym in Torrance that was cited at least five times. Multiple churches are also on the list, including Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, which the county took to court and obtained an injunction to bar the facility from holding indoor worship services. According to the county, the church has been cited three times since the court order was issued on Sept. 10.