California schools may stay closed until fall, L.A. aces social distancing and 3,500 inmates may get early parole as we continue to grapple with the Coronavirus pandemic.
L.A. County Department of Public Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer says the county has seen an additional 10 deaths and 548 new cases since yesterday. This brings to total to 54 deaths and 3,011 confirmed cases of COVID-19. She noted the number of cases has more than tripled in less than a week. — ABC7
Today marks the first case of an L.A. healthcare worker dying from the novel coronavirus. No details were provided by officials other than the person was over the age of 60. — Daily Breeze
Riverside County health officials are now recommending the use of face masks. “When the situation changes, the rulebook changes,” said Dr. Cameron Kaiser, a Riverside County public health officer, in a reversal from what officials originally told the public. “We’re seeing our numbers increasing even sooner than we predicted and that means our strategy must change too. Covering your face doesn’t change the orders everyone must abide by to stay home as much as possible and maintain social distancing, but it’s an extra layer of protection that I think we need to add.” — Riverside University
Long Beach Police are saying that residents are ratting out their neighbors for not following social distancing policies. Over the past 10 days, authorities are hearing reports of grocery shoppers too close together, mourners lingering at a funeral, kids hanging out in parks and duffers jumping a fence to play golf. — Long Beach Post
California schools may not re-open until fall according to this letter that was sent to superintendents this afternoon:
As many as 30,000 California restaurants could close permanently because of coronavirus restrictions that have shuttered dining rooms and led to widespread layoffs, industry leaders told Gov. Gavin Newsom. They urge the state to delay tax payments and planned minimum-wage increases to help the ailing businesses. “We believe the state has a moral obligation to take equally aggressive steps to address the economic harm caused by these measures,” the group wrote. — CBS Los Angeles
Yesterday, Mayor Eric Garcetti closed down L.A. farmers markets after the Brentwood market made national news due to overcrowding. Has that influenced neighboring cities? Yeah, no. Culver City, Pasadena, Torrance and Santa Monica say they will keep their farmers markets open. — L.A. Times
Gun store owners and gun buyers dodged a bullet, the sheriff now says gun stores will remain open:
L.A. received high marks for social distancing. A company using data from millions of anonymous mobile phones to compare the distance peopled traveled gave California an ‘A’ for reducing movement. The company’s data shows Californians reduced their average distance traveled by 41% from late February to Thursday. — L.A. Times
California will grant early parole to as many as 3,500 inmates in response to the virus. These inmates are currently imprisoned for non-violent offenses and are within 60 days of their scheduled release date. — Bloomberg
A UCLA grad student creates a homemade ventilator with materials he bought at Home Depot for $1,000:
What’s it like to be a private chef for a wealthy family right now? The family of one SoCal chef canceled their vacation last week and now they’re practicing social isolation — at least as far as they’re concerned. “The only people who are coming and going are myself, the housekeeper, the house manager, the dog walker, the dog trainer, and themselves,” she says, “because they’re going to the office, supposedly with no one else there.” — Eater
A day after restaurants were told they could not sell groceries unless they received a grocery permit, the city is now allowing them to sell without one. “Public Health is allowing restaurants to offer grocery items as part of their menu for takeout, pickup and delivery,” a department representative wrote in an email sent to The Times on Tuesday. — L.A. Times
Farley Elliot produced a stark, beautiful and sad photo essay of eateries around L.A. “From closed restaurants and boarded-up windows to new kinds of dining, this is L.A. during COVID-19.” — Eater Los Angeles
Why did Dr. John Blake, a Long Beach dentist, decide to join the California Health Corps and tackle COVID-19? “I’m hoping there’s a bunch more [dental teams] that will sign up and can hopefully help out and let the medical professionals on the front line in the ICUs do what they do best,” he says. — LAist
Here is a continually updated list of all the canceled events in tech, media, politics and entertainment due to the spread of the coronavirus. — The Wrap
Jay-Z and Rihanna will be donating $1 million each to both New York and L.A. to help fight the pandemic. — Deadline
The L.A. Times is temporarily changing its print edition due to advertising dollars becoming scarce during the pandemic. “With so many businesses in the region and around the world dealing with this crisis, most of our advertisers are unable to continue advertising, which makes your subscription and support of our journalism more important than ever,” the newspaper’s president and chief operating officer, Chris Argentieri, and executive editor Norman Pearlstine wrote in a letter. — MyNewsLA