LA hopes to celebrate a new kind of freedom on Fourth of July

Celebrating our independence with a big firework celebration at the Rose Bowl is not realistic this year. But the Fourth of July does hopefully mean more freedom for us.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger’s goal is to reopen restaurants and retail for inside service by then. 

“Now it is time to begin to move from safer-at-home to safer-at-work and safer-in-our-communities,” said Supervisor Barger. “My goal is to do it with a sense of urgency, recognizing that public health has to come first.”

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Barger says more than one million residents are now unemployed in L.A. County and three-fourths of them make less than $50,000 a year, which she says proves the pandemic is hurting our most vulnerable.

“Prolonged closure means that many small businesses may not be able to reopen and will cause permanent job losses for millions throughout this county,” said Supervisor Barger.

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Still, county leaders say safety is paramount to avoid a sudden surge in cases that could overwhelm hospitals. So health experts warn residents to celebrate Memorial Day weekend safely so we can look at celebrating our freedom much more realistically come July Fourth.

“Being together from a distance is our new normal and while this is temporary, for this Memorial Day, we’ll still need to practice social distancing,” said L.A. County Public Health Director Kathryn Barger.

Dr. Ferrer says 90% of those infected with COVID-19 have underlying health conditions so she continues to remind and advise those most vulnerable to stay home as much as possible right now.

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