Los Angeles Times - 13.03.2020

LATIMES.COM FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 2020A

CORONAVIRUS

the next few months, so we
don’t overwhelm our health-
care delivery system.”
Christopher Thornberg,
founding partner of Beacon
Economics, compared the
situation to a “national
earthquake” that is hitting
hard but will pass.
“If we just close down the
damn country ... we might
get in front of this and stop it,
in which case that short-
term panic will lead to a col-
lective sigh of relief,” he said.
The calls for “social dis-
tancing” to slow the spread
of the virus that causes
COVID-19 could be seen
from the San Francisco
waterfront, where normally
bustling food stands were
nearly empty, to Los Angeles
International Airport,
where cars could make the
usually jammed vehicle loop
in just five minutes.
San Francisco an-
nounced that it was closing
its public schools for three
weeks, beginning Monday,
through the end of the regu-
larly scheduled spring break
April 3. In Palm Springs, the
landmark aerial tramway
closed indefinitely. And fol-
lowing Disneyland’s an-
nounced closure, Universal
Studios theme park said it
too would close through
March 28, while the adjoin-
ing Universal CityWalk
shopping center would re-
main open.
Officials hope that orders
limiting social interactions
will slow the virus, which has
swept the world, with 198
confirmed cases in Califor-
nia as of Thursday, up 21
from the day before.
The momentum toward
greater restrictions could be
seen even over the course of
one day.
After Newsom’s recom-
mendation against large
gatherings late Wednesday,
Los Angeles County health
officials and Mayor Eric
Garcetti sought to limit
groupings of 50 or more. And
after Newsom explained in a
morning news conference
that Disneyland and other
amusement parks would be
exempt from the rule, the en-
tertainment giant by Thurs-
day afternoon issued a news
release saying it would close
its twin Anaheim parks, Dis-
neyland Park and Disney
California Adventure, on
Saturday morning.
Disney said it would keep
the parks closed through the
end of March. It planned to
keep the hotels at the resort
open until Monday to give
guests time to make plans.
The company said it would
pay its employees during the
shutdown.
The park has closed only
three other times since its

1955 opening: on a national

day of mourning after the

1963 assassination of Presi-

dent Kennedy, following the

1994 Northridge earthquake

and after the Sept. 11, 2001,

terrorist attack on the U.S.

The governor had also ex-

empted casinos, card rooms

and movie theaters from

his guidance against large

gatherings. But he said his

administration was “moving

quickly and effectively

towards a resolution” with

those businesses. Newsom

said movie theater opera-

tors had told him they were

trying to devise ways to in-

troduce social distancing

while still allowing patrons

to gather to see films.

In San Francisco on

Thursday, the normally

bustling Ferry Building

Marketplace was largely

empty, with customers keep-

ing their distance from food

shops manned by worried

employees.

“We usually have a line of

10 to 15 people at lunch time,”

said Jade Kim, manager of

Namu Stonepot.

Outside, a couple strolled

through the empty square.

“It’s weird. Things are su-

per quiet. There was nobody

on BART,” said Altoni Ca-

bling, 28, of her ride on a Bay

Area Rapid Transit train

from her home in Oakland to

San Francisco.

The travel industry was

further rocked Thursday

when a leading cruise

industry operator, Princess

Cruises, said it would tem-

porarily cease operations for

two months.

The industry had come

under the scrutiny of gov-

ernment officials following

coronavirus outbreaks on

two Princess Cruises ves-

sels. A crisis on the Grand

Princess led to the quaran-

tine of 2,400 passengers and

1,100 crew members who had

been aboard the ship, which

finally docked in Oakland on

Monday. Earlier this year,

the company’s Diamond

Princess also suffered an

outbreak, with hundreds

testing positive for the virus.

The state’s signature in-

dustry also signaled a par-

tial retreat Thursday as Hol-

lywood studios pushed back

the release of marquee films,

including Paramount Pic-

tures’ “A Quiet Place Part II”

and Universal Pictures’ “F9,”

the latest in the “Fast and

the Furious” saga. The new

“Fast” movie has been de-

layed by nearly a year.

“One of the things I am

most proud of is people have

said our movie is one you

have to see all together,” said

actor-director John Krasin-

ski of “A Quiet Place Part II.”

“Well, due to the ever-chang-

ing circumstances of the

world around us, now is

clearly not the right time to

do that.”

Disneyland wasn’t the

only iconic Southern Califor-

nia attraction facing closure.

With Garcetti’s order to

limit L.A. city properties to

no more than 50 outside visi-

tors at a time, the operators

of Griffith Observatory

opted to close. The L.A. Zoo

also said it would close.

The city-owned Los An-

geles Convention Center is

rescheduling the Rug Show,

the Best of You LA Expo and

about eight other planned

consumer shows, said

Doane Liu, executive direc-

tor of the Department of

Convention and Tourism

Development.

Garcetti also said City

Hall would be closed to non-

city employees, with the ex-

ception of members of the

public attending City Coun-

cil meetings. The Los Ange-

les City Council also planned

to sharply reduce the num-

ber of public meetings, to

limit potential public expo-

sure to the virus.

A day after the World

Health Organization first

said that COVID-19 had

caused a world pandemic,

health experts struggled to

come to grips with the mag-

nitude of the challenge.

At a House Oversight

Committee hearing, Dr. An-

thony Fauci said the U.S.

was “failing” to test everyone

who needs it.

“The system is not really

geared to what we need right

now — what you are asking

for,” said Fauci, the director

of the National Institute of

Allergy and Infectious Dis-

eases. “That is a failing....

Let’s admit it.”

Sen. Dianne Feinstein

(D-Calif.) sent a letter to

Vice President Mike Pence

— who is heading the White

House response to the dis-

ease — urging the adminis-

tration to rapidly expand co-

ronavirus testing capacity

and to establish clear guide-

lines for when state and local

governments should deploy

public health measures.

The head of the Ameri-

can College of Emergency

Physicians said in a call with

reporters that the virus

would “put a fairly tremen-

dous strain on our health

system.” Dr. William Jaquis

said he expects the case

counts to rapidly increase in

the coming weeks, adding:

“COVID is very serious and

we’re treating it as such.”

Another federal official

said blood banks had seen a

substantial drop in dona-

tions because of a fear of the

coronavirus. That trend

needs to be reversed, said

Dr. Peter Marks, director of

the U.S. Food and Drug Ad-

ministration’s Center for

Biologics Evaluation and

Research.

“We need people to pre-

vent the blood supply from

getting depleted. We need it

not to get to the point that

surgeries are having to get

canceled,” Marks said. “To

ensure an adequate blood

supply, we need people to

come out and donate blood.”

Los Angeles County had

confirmed 32 cases of the

disease by Thursday, includ-

ing two new cases from un-

known sources, increasing

the evidence of “community

transmission,” said Barbara

Ferrer, director of the Los

Angeles County Depart-

ment of Public Health.

Ferrer encouraged tele-

commuting, urged residents

to avoid meetings of 50 or

more and to avoid other

communal gathering spots.

She suggested that gym

classes where people exer-

cise in close proximity are

best avoided. People do not

have to avoid their health

clubs but should use com-

mon sense to avoid contact

with those who might carry

the virus, Ferrer said.

Even as they scrambled

to address the threat, public

officials had to tend fire-

fighters and police officers

whose work exposed them to

the virus.

Los Angeles County

Sheriff Alex Villanueva said

three deputies and five

county Fire Department

staff members had been

placed under quarantine af-

ter responding to a call Mon-

day involving a person in

Walnut who later died of the

coronavirus.

In San Jose, four fire-

fighters tested positive for

COVID-19, leading to the

quarantine of nearly 60 oth-

ers, officials said.

South of Sacramento,

one man in Elk Grove de-

scribed the strange isolation

of the coronavirus era. His

two children, ages 2 and 5,

were home after an elemen-

tary student tested positive

for the virus. An elderly pa-

tient had died at a senior liv-

ing facility just across a lot

from his back window.

Pesarlai Mukhtar, an

Uber driver, said he is afraid

to work, calling it “risky” to

pick up unknown passen-

gers. So his family is living off

their savings, and he is

scared.

“Our life graph is going

down,” he said, making a

plummeting motion with his

hand. “Education, work,

everything.”

Times staff writers Susanne

Rust, Rong-Gong Lin II,

Andrew J. Campa, Dakota

Smith and Alex

Wigglesworth contributed

to this report.

DISNEYLAND WORKERS wearing ponchos walk through the park’s Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge land Thursday. The park will close Saturday through month’s end.

Allen J. SchabenLos Angeles Times

Public life slows across the state

AIRLINEemployees wear masks while checking in passengers at Los Angeles

International Airport, where the usually jammed vehicle loop was mostly empty.

Christina HouseLos Angeles Times

ALEXANDRIA CASSERLY, who teaches fashion and makeup design to children,

some of them with autoimmune diseases, wears a mask while walking downtown.

Gabriella Angotti-JonesLos Angeles Times

[California,from A1]