4 Los Angeles County beaches remain under high bacteria warning after being placed back on lockdown
High bacteria levels have been reported on some of the nation’s busiest beaches, which have been placed on “lockdown” for the second time in as many years.
Los Angeles County beaches remain under a “high infectious bacteria” warning after the order was issued for an area in Santa Monica that has been closed for years.
The order was issued for the Santa Monica Pier after a local man was found to have a contagious parasite.
There have been no reports of people falling ill.
On Tuesday, in addition to the Santa Monica Pier, the beaches of Venice, Santa Monica, Long Beach, Venice Beach and San Pedro were placed on “lockdown.”
Those areas remained closed as of Wednesday morning.
A spokeswoman for Los Angeles County, in a statement to the L.A. Times on Tuesday, praised the county’s first responders. “We are incredibly grateful to the first responders who were able to respond to this situation immediately and provide life-saving care,” said Kelly Siegler. “We are equally grateful for the many L.A. County residents who took this matter seriously and reported any concerns they may have had to the public health authorities.”
California is one of several states that has been placed under “lockdown.” It’s unclear if these orders have been lifted. There, public beaches were allowed to reopen with a small number of exceptions on Wednesday.
“In Los Angeles County, there are more people living in an area around the coast than there are on the beaches,” said Alex Traverso, senior vice president of the West Coast Council of Fire Chiefs. “The beachfront is a critical community resource that is vital to our community and economy.”
L.A. County is among a number of cities and counties in the country to be placed on a “lockdown” order. So far, there are no reports of widespread infection of local governments.
There has been some controversy over the California beaches’ reopening so soon, after months of public and local health officials warning that beaches could become sources of infectious disease.
On Tuesday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom asked for a review of the order, saying a beach in Santa Monica “cannot remain unsafe overnight.” Local officials have said the beaches could get better with time.
The Santa Monica statement issued
