Tag: lockdowns

L.A. County walks back Halloween ban, says trick-or-treating ‘not recommended’

Less than a day after issuing new health guidelines that banned trick-or-treating and other Halloween activities, Los Angeles County public health officials walked back the decision Wednesday.

Citing an inability to maintain safe social distancing and the potential for gatherings beyond household members, county officials initially nixed trick-or-treating along with other Halloween traditions, including haunted houses and parades.

But Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said Wednesday that the guidelines have been “slightly revised.”

Ferrer said the change distinguishes between activities originally prohibited under the health officer order from activities that are “not recommended.”

“This year, it’s just not safe to celebrate in the ways we usually do,” Ferrer said. “We are recommending that trick-or-treating not happen this year.”

The Department of Public Health previously said that because some of the traditional ways in which Halloween is celebrated do not allow contact with nonhousehold members to be minimized, it is important to identify safer alternatives.

“Trunk-or-treat” events involving car-to-car candy dispersal, which are sometimes held by churches or schools, also are not recommended under the revised order.

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New York Indoor-Dining To Resume Sept 30th, Cuomo Urges Citizens To Snitch On Violators

So what “science” changed in the last 24 hours?

Just a day after a large group on New York restaurateurs filed a $2 billion lawsuit against Cuomo and De Blasio over the ongoing COVID lockdowns, the Governor just announced that indoor-dining will be allowed (at 25% capacity) starting on September 30th.

The restaurant owners exclaimed:

“We’ve been patient, the numbers are fantastic, the COVID statistics, we don’t know what more we could do,” said one business owner.

“This is a lawsuit. We don’t wanna do this. This is not us, we are workers. We work 100 hours a week. It’s not a luxurious lifestyle. I have waiters; none of them drove here in a Ferrari today.”

And now they can open – but who decided that 25% capacity was the right number? why not 30% or 50%?

“Because compliance is better, we can now take the next step,” the governor said.

Additional restrictions would also be placed on restaurants and their patrons, including a requirement to wear face coverings when not seated.

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Los Angeles bans Halloween trick-or-treating due to COVID-19 risk

Traditional Halloween activities like trick-or-treating, parties, festivals and haunted houses won’t be permitted throughout Los Angeles this fall due to the risk of contracting or spreading COVID-19, health officials announced.

“Door to door trick or treating is not allowed because it can be very difficult to maintain proper social distancing on porches and at front doors especially in neighborhoods that are popular with trick or treaters,” the new guidance reads.

Also banned this year is so-called “trunk or treating,” where children get candy and other treats from cars instead of doorsteps, as well as gatherings or parties with non-household members and live entertainment like haunted house attractions, county officials said.

“Since some of the traditional ways in which this holiday is celebrated does not allow you to minimize contact with non-household members, it is important to plan early and identify safer alternatives,” county health officials said in a statement.

To that end, those who wish to celebrate Halloween amid the pandemic with safer alternatives can host or attend online get-togethers, costume contests or pumpkin carving parties.

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It’s now looking like the lockdowns may have been a huge mistake

Were lockdowns a mistake? To that nagging question, the answer increasingly seems to be yes.

Certainly, they were a novelty. As novelist Lionel Shriver writes, “We’ve never before responded to a contagion by closing down whole countries.” As I’ve noted, the 1957-58 Asian flu killed between 70,000 and 116,000 Americans, between 0.04 percent and 0.07 percent of the nation’s population. The 1968-70 Hong Kong flu killed about 100,000, 0.05 percent of the population.

The US coronavirus death toll of 186,000 is 0.055 percent of the current population. It will go higher, but it’s about the same magnitude as those two flus, and it has been less deadly to those under 65 than the flus were. Yet there were no statewide lockdowns; no massive school closings; no closings of office buildings and factories, restaurants and museums. No one considered shutting down Woodstock.

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San Francisco gym owners livid after discovering gyms in government buildings have been opened for months

Gyms within government buildings in San Francisco have been open for months, despite privately owned establishments being ordered to close due to the coronavirus.

“It’s shocking, it’s infuriating,” Daniele Rabkin, of Crossfit Golden Gate, told a local NBC station. “Even though they’re getting exposed, there are no repercussions, no ramifications? It’s shocking.”

The gyms that have been open for government employees include those for police officers, judges, lawyers, bailiffs, and paralegals, according to the report. One such gym, the Hall of Justice gym, has been open since July 1.

“It just demonstrates that there seems to be some kind of a double standard between what city employees are allowed to do and what the residents of San Francisco are allowed to do,” Dave Karraker, owner of MX3 Fitness in the Castro, said.

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Coronavirus: Pregnant Victorian woman filmed arrest

A pregnant anti-lockdown protester has live-streamed her arrest on social media and been charged for allegedly inciting a protest against COVID-19 restrictions in Ballarat’s CBD.

The video on the woman’s Facebook page had already been viewed more than 1.4 million times in the space of four hours by Wednesday night, with comments describing the scenes as “absolutely disgusting”.

“What the actual f***!” one person wrote, echoing many others.

Detectives descended on the woman’s Miners Rest home today, armed with a search warrant, after they became aware of a “prohibited gathering” scheduled to take place in the regional Victorian city this Saturday.

Officers raided the 28-year-old’s home and seized her mobile phone and computer equipment, after she greeted them at the door in pink pyjamas.

Upon being told she was going to be arrested, the woman began to cry and told officers she would “happily” delete her social media posts, with her Facebook page reportedly containing links to a “peaceful, freedom day” protest scheduled for the weekend.

“The government has gone to extreme measures and are using scare tactics through the media to prevent the Melbourne protest,” the event’s description said.

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