Los Angeles
The mayor of Los Angeles Friday dismissed a Trump administration warning that the city’s continued lockdown due to coronavirus could be illegal, saying he would not be “pushed by politics.”
Eric Garcetti, the Democratic leader of the United States’ second-largest city, was sent a letter earlier Friday by federal authorities that said long-term restrictions “may be both arbitrary and unlawful.”
“We are not guided by politics in this — we are guided by science, we are guided by collaboration,” said Garcetti when asked about the missive at a press conference.
“There’s no games, there’s nothing else going on. And that’s the way we’re going to continue to safely open,” he added.
Los Angeles has begun to reopen facilities from beaches and golf courses to restaurants and retail businesses offering curbside pick-up services, but lags behind other parts of California.
Densely-populated Los Angeles county has suffered more than 43,000 confirmed cases, with 2,049 deaths — well over half of the state’s fatalities. Widely reported comments from a county health official last week that restrictions could last another three months drew the Trump administration’s ire.—AFP
