Los Angeles County has announced a stay-home order as coronavirus cases surge out of control in the nation’s most populous county.
The three-week order takes effect Monday but it stops short of a full shutdown on non-essential businesses, allowing indoor retail to operate at 20% capacity. It comes as the county confirms 24 new deaths and 4,544 new cases of COVID-19.
Nearly 2,000 people in the county are hospitalized. The order advises residents to stay home “as much as possible” and to wear a mask when they go outside.
It bans people from gathering with people who aren’t in their households, whether publicly or privately, but church services and protests are excluded.