LA mayor issues new stay-at-home order amid COVID-19 spike

Los Angeles on Wednesday night issued an emergency order directing all city residents to stay home amid a surge in coronavirus cases.

Mayor Eric Garcetti announced the new restrictions at a press briefing, where he said, “It’s time to cancel everything.”

Residents are still permitted to leave their homes for certain essential services, including for health care and grocery shopping. Other businesses and institutions such as banks, media outlets and post offices are also deemed essential.

But most public and private gatherings of people from more than one household are prohibited, the order said, except for when attending church or a protest.

“My message couldn’t be simpler,” Garcetti said Wednesday night. “It’s time to hunker down. It’s time to cancel everything. And if it isn’t essential, don’t do it.

“Don’t meet up with others outside your household. Don’t host a gathering. Don’t attend a gathering,” he said.

According to the order, by Wednesday, more people in the city were infected with COVID-19 than at any other point in the pandemic.

“Our city is now close to a devastating tipping point, beyond which the number of hospitalized patients would start to overwhelm our hospital system, in turn risking needless suffering and death,” the order read.