And just like that, LA County just destroyed thousands of businesses:
LA County Suspends Outdoor Dining in Restaurants as Coronavirus Rises https://t.co/7NC8q6Q5JT
– Los Angeles Times (@latimes) November 22, 2020
From LA County:
To reduce the possibility of overcrowding and the risk of exposure in environments where people do not wear face covers, restaurants, breweries, wineries and bars can only offer take-out, drive-through and delivery services. Wineries and breweries can continue their retail operations in accordance with current protocols. Personal eating is not permitted for at least the next 3 weeks.
So where is the science that “outdoor eating fuels dissemination”?
LA County’s # COVID19 news has been ubiquitous from the start, despite public relations firms paying $ 3 million. They are now announcing a knockout blow for restaurants via a tweet, rather than providing supportive science to back the idea that outdoor eating is fueling the spread.
– Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) November 22, 2020
These companies went out of their way to do the right thing, and now “they are seeing their businesses being destroyed by irresponsible people”:
I feel so bad for the LA County restaurants that have followed the rules and spent extra money to comply with the new regulations … and see their businesses being destroyed by irresponsible people attending house parties, protests, celebrations, and others spread to unregulated gatherings
– Elex Michaelson (@Elex_Michaelson) November 22, 2020
What’s worse is that this bureaucracy doesn’t even feel like it has to justify it:
I would be excited to see the science that differentiates between an average of 3,900 cases, 4,000 cases, and 4,500 cases in a county of 10 million people.
Where do these arbitrary thresholds come from?
What specific evidence is there of mass restaurant breakouts under the rules?
– Elex Michaelson (@Elex_Michaelson) November 22, 2020
***.
