latimes--2020-03-28--L.A.'s coronavirus testing has been a failure on all levels. He's trying to fix it

Clayton Kazan , Los Angeles County ’ s new coronavirus testing coordinator , has no shortage of opinions on how management of the crisis has gone so far .
It ’ s been a failure at all levels of government , he says , and testing capacity in Los Angeles County remains “ grossly inadequate ” — a fact that should frustrate residents here .
He also believes that the tests , even if widely available , can be unreliable — and effectively useless to people without symptoms or those who test negative , because they can face exposure moments @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pandemic growing exponentially , and with the test availability still lagging , the county ’ s Board of Supervisors announced Kazan this week as the new coordinator on the testing issue .
His job is to wrangle the network of health officials — both private and public — and help solve the problem .
Kazan is the medical director at the Los Angeles County Fire Department and an emergency room physician in Torrance .
The Rancho Palos Verdes native , 45 , talked with The Times about his frustration with the system ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ testing — and whether it ’ s too late now to limit the strain on hospitals .
What follows is a transcript of that conversation , lightly edited for clarity and brevity .
Q .
It seems like getting to widespread testing might be the defining challenge so far in tackling this crisis .
Would you agree ?
I would .… When you ask countries that have been successful , that is one thing that they point to .
When you ask countries that have been especially challenged , like Italy and now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ big limiters to them in the initial phase has been a lack of access to rapid , widespread testing .
Q .
And you ’ re now coordinating that effort for Los Angeles County , one of the most populous and complex municipalities in the nation .
That seems like a job most people wouldn ’ t want .
I ’ m one of the physician leaders of the county , so when asked to step forward , of course , I did .
This is all in addition to my duties at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I can recognize as a clinician that there ’ s a desperate need to get this access .
Let me give you an example .
In the hospital where I work in the emergency department , I had a patient who appeared really ill. She didn ’ t meet any classic definitions of COVID , but I had no explanations for why she was ill .… We put her in isolation .
We took all the precautions , and we sent off the test .
The patient did better , was sent home @ @ @ @ @ @ @ test result came back six days later positive .
Q .
The public is looking at this , and they ’ re asking : Were we not prepared ?
It is hard to prepare a lab to receive specimens for a novel virus … .
There was some initial denial that it could do in Los Angeles what it has done in Wuhan , because our healthcare system is so good .
But unfortunately , we ’ re realizing that there are definite cracks in our armor that we hadn ’ t anticipated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up our labs to handle not just this unique test that we need but also on a scale that we ’ ve never done before .
That takes time .
Q .
What have been the main roadblocks for the county and its healthcare system related to testing ?
Internal equipment ?
Staff ?
Delays in getting test kits ?
Reagents to process the kits ?
Private lab capacity ?
It really is all of the above .
The number one shortage item that the labs talk to me about is swabs .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ running the tests .
So , on the existing machines where they can do it , they ’ re lacking some of the different raw materials that they need .
But number one is swabs : the simplest piece .
Q .
How many tests are we able to perform per day now , roughly , in L.A. County ?
It ’ s so rapidly changing from day to day .
I would say we ’ re able to run a few thousand a day , if everything is operating at capacity and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the labs .
Q .
The turnaround for those tests could still be days , or many days , depending on where they ’ re sent ?
The range that I ’ ve heard from those who are doing best , those who are doing it on-site , is about four to six hours .
The long end of the range [ is ] running four to six days .
If you ’ re sick enough to have it done in the hospital , and the hospital can do the test in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be just a few hours .
But unfortunately , not a lot of hospitals in our region are able to do that .
A lot of them send it out .
Q .
Are you and the policymakers you ’ re talking to happy with that turnaround time ?
If not , how can we speed it up ?
No , I ’ m not at all happy about that turnaround time .
As a clinician and as an ER physician , by nature I am an impatient person .
In the ER @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 60 minutes for the tests that really matter for us .
The acceptable time on this one for me should be measured in no more than hours .
Anything beyond that becomes relatively useless to us .
What do we need to do to get there ?
We need a massive scaling locally .
As long as we ’ re having to ship our labs out of state , and we ’ re having to compete with all the other states that are struggling with their own outbreaks , then we ’ re @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Does that mean that hospitals and local testing outfits need more equipment ?
What can be done locally to speed up or improve our capacity locally ?
Having spoken to our Department of Health Services county hospital labs , they have acquired the equipment that they need .
The equipment has to be set up , and they are actively doing that right now .
And then it has to be calibrated before it can be used .
So it takes about five to seven days from the time they received the equipment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ until now , they are not able to run any specimens in the county hospitals at all .
They are all sent out , either to the county Department of Public Health labs or those national labs like Quest [ Diagnostics ] or LabCorp .
Q .
When will normal folks be able to get a test , either at a drive-through site or from their primary care doctor ?
And how long will they have to wait to get it turned around ?
With the testing that we do , and with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there is no benefit to people without symptoms being tested , because the meaning of a negative test is pretty much zero .
The tests still have a pretty high false negative rate that can approach 30 % .
Secondly , even if I can test you at a moment in time , until you get the results , you are being exposed every day , whether you go to the supermarket or go home .
So when that test finally comes back as negative , we don ’ t want people to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and resume their previous lives .
They may well have an early infection that the test missed , or since that test was taken , they may have gone and exposed themselves to the virus .
Q .
Can you describe the enormity of the challenge we face to get to where we want to be ?
When we talk about announcing 20,000 tests from Seegene [ the South Korean company that was in helping that country establish a reliable testing system early in the crisis ] , it sounds like a huge @ @ @ @ @ @ @ only enough tests for one in every 500 people in the county .
What sounds like a big number quickly erodes to something approaching insignificant when you look at the size of our population and the scope of our need .
In terms of lab capacity , the issue with that is that the level of sophistication of this test should not be underestimated .
To bring something like that on a novel virus to a massive scale in a short period of time is a truly monumental worldwide effort .
Right now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Q .
We had weeks of people moving around before social distancing measures , we still don ’ t have widespread testing and we ’ ve given up really on any chance of meaningful contact tracing — even if we could do it at scale at this point .
Should we be frustrated about that ?
I think it ’ s right to be a bit frustrated .
The problem with contact tracing is it depends on widespread testing and rapid turnaround .
In order for you to start tracing back people ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ know who ’ s positive with some degree of reliability .
With the level that we were testing a couple of weeks ago , or a month ago , the kind of critical juncture where we started to get our exponential rise , we had only a tiny percentage of the capacity that we even have now , and what we have now is still grossly inadequate .
Q .
It seems obvious now that , for whatever reason , we were just late to a proper testing regime .
As someone asked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , how do you feel about that , in terms of what kind of a challenge that presents ?
There is certainly truth in that , and reason to be frustrated .
It ’ s something that was vital to South Korea ’ s response , and we had time to develop it for ourselves , and yet we failed .
That failure was federal , state and local .
We all failed .
I think we all , myself included , had some level of denial that it would ever reach our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , yes , we unfortunately missed an opportunity .
If we could go back to January , when we saw what was happening in Wuhan , if we had taken that opportunity to scale ourselves up in anticipation , we could have been more prepared than we are now .
We still would be facing an enormous challenge .
Q.
What ’ s your sense for how long this might continue , this major adaptation in the way we live — weeks , months , into the fall or until we get some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s anyone ’ s guess .
Because what we are seeing is unprecedented .
Right now I would suggest that it is most likely going to follow the Italian model , where we ’ re going to see an exponential rise , and we ’ re going to have weeks or months of very , very big healthcare challenges .
What we ’ ve been saying from the beginning is that COVID is not just a problem of acuity but [ one ] of capacity .
Most of the people who get @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
At least 80 % have a pretty mild course .
The problem is that the 20 % who have mild to severe courses can be very needy for healthcare .
It can very quickly overwhelm our already saturated emergency and critical care resources .
Q .
How worried are you about what those weeks and months are going to look like ?
Extremely .
But this is unprecedented .
If it follows the 1918 flu epidemic , we could see it drop off suddenly .
We could see a very long peak @ @ @ @ @ @ @ There really is no telling .
We ’ re preparing for a very long peak — at least , as a county , we ’ re preparing for up to six months .
If we get surprised , and cases drop off , that ’ s outstanding .
We will take every opportunity to prepare for another surge .
No one really knows what the future is going to hold with this .
There are only models .

Clayton Kazan, an ER physician and medical director at the L.A. County Fire Department, at his office in Monterey Park. He is coordinating testing in the county.
Clayton Kazan, Los Angeles County’s new coronavirus testing coordinator, has no shortage of opinions on how management of the crisis has gone so far.
It’s been a failure at all levels of government, he says, and testing capacity in Los Angeles County remains “grossly inadequate” — a fact that should frustrate residents here.
He also believes that the tests, even if widely available, can be unreliable — and effectively useless to people without symptoms or those who test negative, because they can face exposure moments after getting the results.
Advertisement
With the pandemic growing exponentially, and with the test availability still lagging, the county’s Board of Supervisors announced Kazan this week as the new coordinator on the testing issue. His job is to wrangle the network of health officials — both private and public — and help solve the problem.
Kazan is the medical director at the Los Angeles County Fire Department and an emergency room physician in Torrance. The Rancho Palos Verdes native, 45, talked with The Times about his frustration with the system’s slow adaptation to the need for testing — and whether it’s too late now to limit the strain on hospitals.
What follows is a transcript of that conversation, lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
Q. It seems like getting to widespread testing might be the defining challenge so far in tackling this crisis. Would you agree?
I would .… When you ask countries that have been successful, that is one thing that they point to. When you ask countries that have been especially challenged, like Italy and now the United States, one of the big limiters to them in the initial phase has been a lack of access to rapid, widespread testing.
Q. And you’re now coordinating that effort for Los Angeles County, one of the most populous and complex municipalities in the nation. That seems like a job most people wouldn’t want.
[Laughs]
I’m one of the physician leaders of the county, so when asked to step forward, of course, I did. This is all in addition to my duties at the L.A. County Fire Department. But I can recognize as a clinician that there’s a desperate need to get this access. Let me give you an example. In the hospital where I work in the emergency department, I had a patient who appeared really ill. She didn’t meet any classic definitions of COVID, but I had no explanations for why she was ill .… We put her in isolation. We took all the precautions, and we sent off the test. The patient did better, was sent home and after she got home, the test result came back six days later positive.
Q. The public is looking at this, and they’re asking: Were we not prepared?
Advertisement
It is hard to prepare a lab to receive specimens for a novel virus …. There was some initial denial that it could do in Los Angeles what it has done in Wuhan, because our healthcare system is so good. But unfortunately, we’re realizing that there are definite cracks in our armor that we hadn’t anticipated. We’re trying to spool up our labs to handle not just this unique test that we need but also on a scale that we’ve never done before. That takes time.
Q. What have been the main roadblocks for the county and its healthcare system related to testing? Internal equipment? Staff? Delays in getting test kits? Reagents to process the kits? Private lab capacity?
It really is all of the above. The number one shortage item that the labs talk to me about is swabs. Number two is reagent and materials for running the tests. So, on the existing machines where they can do it, they’re lacking some of the different raw materials that they need. But number one is swabs: the simplest piece.
Q. How many tests are we able to perform per day now, roughly, in L.A. County?
It’s so rapidly changing from day to day. I would say we’re able to run a few thousand a day, if everything is operating at capacity and has all the raw materials in all of the labs.
Q. The turnaround for those tests could still be days, or many days, depending on where they’re sent?
The range that I’ve heard from those who are doing best, those who are doing it on-site, is about four to six hours. The long end of the range [is] running four to six days. If you’re sick enough to have it done in the hospital, and the hospital can do the test in their own lab, the turnaround can be just a few hours. But unfortunately, not a lot of hospitals in our region are able to do that. A lot of them send it out.
Q. Are you and the policymakers you’re talking to happy with that turnaround time? If not, how can we speed it up?
No, I’m not at all happy about that turnaround time. As a clinician and as an ER physician, by nature I am an impatient person. In the ER we get turnaround times of 30 to 60 minutes for the tests that really matter for us. The acceptable time on this one for me should be measured in no more than hours. Anything beyond that becomes relatively useless to us. What do we need to do to get there? We need a massive scaling locally. As long as we’re having to ship our labs out of state, and we’re having to compete with all the other states that are struggling with their own outbreaks, then we’re going to be struggling.
Q. Does that mean that hospitals and local testing outfits need more equipment? What can be done locally to speed up or improve our capacity locally?
Having spoken to our Department of Health Services county hospital labs, they have acquired the equipment that they need. The equipment has to be set up, and they are actively doing that right now. And then it has to be calibrated before it can be used. So it takes about five to seven days from the time they received the equipment until it can be used. Up until now, they are not able to run any specimens in the county hospitals at all. They are all sent out, either to the county Department of Public Health labs or those national labs like Quest [Diagnostics] or LabCorp.
Q. When will normal folks be able to get a test, either at a drive-through site or from their primary care doctor? And how long will they have to wait to get it turned around?
With the testing that we do, and with widespread community spread of the disease, there is no benefit to people without symptoms being tested, because the meaning of a negative test is pretty much zero. The tests still have a pretty high false negative rate that can approach 30%. Secondly, even if I can test you at a moment in time, until you get the results, you are being exposed every day, whether you go to the supermarket or go home. So when that test finally comes back as negative, we don’t want people to let their guard down and go back and resume their previous lives. They may well have an early infection that the test missed, or since that test was taken, they may have gone and exposed themselves to the virus.
Q. Can you describe the enormity of the challenge we face to get to where we want to be?
When we talk about announcing 20,000 tests from Seegene [the South Korean company that was innovative in helping that country establish a reliable testing system early in the crisis], it sounds like a huge number. And yet that’s only enough tests for one in every 500 people in the county. What sounds like a big number quickly erodes to something approaching insignificant when you look at the size of our population and the scope of our need. In terms of lab capacity, the issue with that is that the level of sophistication of this test should not be underestimated. To bring something like that on a novel virus to a massive scale in a short period of time is a truly monumental worldwide effort. Right now we are deeply challenged by it.
Q. We had weeks of people moving around before social distancing measures, we still don’t have widespread testing and we’ve given up really on any chance of meaningful contact tracing — even if we could do it at scale at this point. Should we be frustrated about that?
I think it’s right to be a bit frustrated. The problem with contact tracing is it depends on widespread testing and rapid turnaround. In order for you to start tracing back people’s contacts, you first have to know who’s positive with some degree of reliability. With the level that we were testing a couple of weeks ago, or a month ago, the kind of critical juncture where we started to get our exponential rise, we had only a tiny percentage of the capacity that we even have now, and what we have now is still grossly inadequate.
Q. It seems obvious now that, for whatever reason, we were just late to a proper testing regime. As someone asked now to coordinate this for the county, how do you feel about that, in terms of what kind of a challenge that presents?
There is certainly truth in that, and reason to be frustrated. It’s something that was vital to South Korea’s response, and we had time to develop it for ourselves, and yet we failed. That failure was federal, state and local. We all failed. I think we all, myself included, had some level of denial that it would ever reach our shores as it is now .… But, yes, we unfortunately missed an opportunity. If we could go back to January, when we saw what was happening in Wuhan, if we had taken that opportunity to scale ourselves up in anticipation, we could have been more prepared than we are now. We still would be facing an enormous challenge.
Q. What’s your sense for how long this might continue, this major adaptation in the way we live — weeks, months, into the fall or until we get some sort of vaccine?
So, it’s anyone’s guess. Because what we are seeing is unprecedented. Right now I would suggest that it is most likely going to follow the Italian model, where we’re going to see an exponential rise, and we’re going to have weeks or months of very, very big healthcare challenges. What we’ve been saying from the beginning is that COVID is not just a problem of acuity but [one] of capacity. Most of the people who get the coronavirus have a relatively mild syndrome. At least 80% have a pretty mild course. The problem is that the 20% who have mild to severe courses can be very needy for healthcare. It can very quickly overwhelm our already saturated emergency and critical care resources.
Q. How worried are you about what those weeks and months are going to look like?
Extremely. But this is unprecedented. If it follows the 1918 flu epidemic, we could see it drop off suddenly. We could see a very long peak that could last for many months. There really is no telling. We’re preparing for a very long peak — at least, as a county, we’re preparing for up to six months. If we get surprised, and cases drop off, that’s outstanding. We will take every opportunity to prepare for another surge. No one really knows what the future is going to hold with this. There are only models.


latimes--2020-03-28--These L.A. County communities have coronavirus cases, and these don't

Los Angeles County health officials reported five more fatalities due to the coronavirus Friday , bringing the county ’ s @ @ @ @ @ the highest of any county in the state .
All five of the victims reported @ @ @ @ @ , and four were men , officials said .
The number of confirmed cases rose @ @ @ @ @ % increase from the previous day .
Almost 11,000 people had been tested in Los @ @ @ @ @ .
Officials urged residents to stay home this weekend and go out only for essential @ @ @ @ @ distancing can slow the spread of the coronavirus .
Here is a breakdown of cases @ @ @ @ @ : -- Means that case numbers are suppressed ( between 1 and 4 cases in @ @ @ @ @ .

A pair of bicyclists in Playa Del Rey put the distancing in “social distancing” after L.A. County closed all beaches and trails in an effort to reduce crowds to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Los Angeles County health officials reported five more fatalities due to the coronavirus Friday, bringing the county’s death toll to 26, the highest of any county in the state.
All five of the victims reported Friday were older than 60, and four were men, officials said.
The number of confirmed cases rose to 1,482, a 20% increase from the previous day.
Advertisement
Almost 11,000 people had been tested in Los Angeles County as of Friday.
Officials urged residents to stay home this weekend and go out only for essential services, saying this social distancing can slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Here is a breakdown of cases by Los Angeles County community:
City of Agoura Hills 6
City of Alhambra 8
City of Arcadia 6
City of Artesia --
City of Avalon 0
City of Azusa 1
City of Baldwin Park 0
City of Bell 4
City of Bell Gardens 1
City of Bellflower 10
City of Beverly Hills 21
City of Bradbury 0
City of Burbank 7
City of Calabasas 7
City of Carson 21
City of Cerritos 1
City of Claremont 1
City of Commerce 0
City of Compton 7
City of Covina 3
City of Cudahy --
City of Culver City 6
City of Diamond Bar 2
City of Downey 12
City of Duarte --
City of El Monte 0
City of El Segundo --
City of Gardena 5
City of Glendale 29
City of Glendora 4
City of Hawaiian Gardens --
City of Hawthorne 7
City of Hermosa Beach --
City of Hidden Hills 0
City of Huntington Park 0
City of Industry 0
City of Inglewood 12
City of Irwindale 0
City of La Canada Flintridge 5
City of La Habra Heights --
City of La Mirada 5
City of La Puente 1
City of La Verne 1
City of Lakewood 8
City of Lancaster 18
City of Lawndale 2
City of Lomita 0
City of Long Beach -- 54
City of Lynwood 8
City of Malibu --
City of Manhattan Beach 22
City of Maywood 1
City of Monrovia 4
City of Montebello 2
City of Monterey Park 4
City of Norwalk 9
City of Palmdale 4
City of Palos Verdes Estates 12
City of Paramount 5
City of Pasadena -- 9
City of Pico Rivera 2
City of Pomona 4
City of Rancho Palos Verdes 7
City of Redondo Beach 23
City of Rolling Hills 0
City of Rolling Hills Estates --
City of Rosemead 0
City of San Dimas 1
City of San Fernando 0
City of San Gabriel 5
City of San Marino --
City of Santa Clarita 24
City of Santa Fe Springs 0
City of Santa Monica 28
City of Sierra Madre 0
City of Signal Hill --
City of South El Monte 0
City of South Gate 4
City of South Pasadena 3
City of Temple City 0
City of Torrance 21
City of Vernon 0
City of Walnut 1
City of West Covina 5
City of West Hollywood 42
City of Westlake Village 0
City of Whittier 4
Los Angeles - Adams-Normandie --
Los Angeles - Alsace --
Los Angeles - Angelino Heights 0
Los Angeles - Arleta 2
Los Angeles - Atwater Village 0
Los Angeles - Baldwin Hills 5
Los Angeles - Bel Air 6
Los Angeles - Beverly Crest 14
Los Angeles - Beverlywood 8
Los Angeles - Boyle Heights 8
Los Angeles - Brentwood 30
Los Angeles - Brookside 0
Los Angeles - Cadillac-Corning 0
Los Angeles - Canoga Park 2
Los Angeles - Carthay 7
Los Angeles - Central 2
Los Angeles - Century City 6
Los Angeles - Century Palms/Cove 3
Los Angeles - Chatsworth 3
Los Angeles - Cheviot Hills --
Los Angeles - Chinatown 0
Los Angeles - Cloverdale/Cochran --
Los Angeles - Country Club Park --
Los Angeles - Crenshaw District --
Los Angeles - Crestview 7
Los Angeles - Del Rey 9
Los Angeles - Downtown 8
Los Angeles - Eagle Rock 4
Los Angeles - East Hollywood 3
Los Angeles - Echo Park --
Los Angeles - El Sereno 0
Los Angeles - Elysian Park --
Los Angeles - Elysian Valley --
Los Angeles - Encino 23
Los Angeles - Exposition 0
Los Angeles - Exposition Park 2
Los Angeles - Faircrest Heights 0
Los Angeles - Figueroa Park Square 0
Los Angeles - Florence-Firestone 3
Los Angeles - Glassell Park 4
Los Angeles - Gramercy Place --
Los Angeles - Granada Hills 8
Los Angeles - Green Meadows --
Los Angeles - Hancock Park 14
Los Angeles - Harbor City 1
Los Angeles - Harbor Gateway 4
Los Angeles - Harbor Pines 0
Los Angeles - Harvard Heights --
Los Angeles - Harvard Park 1
Los Angeles - Highland Park 5
Los Angeles - Historic Filipinotown 0
Los Angeles - Hollywood 30
Los Angeles - Hollywood Hills 19
Los Angeles - Hyde Park 2
Los Angeles - Jefferson Park 0
Los Angeles - Koreatown 7
Los Angeles - Lafayette Square --
Los Angeles - Lake Balboa 3
Los Angeles - Lakeview Terrace --
Los Angeles - Leimert Park --
Los Angeles - Lincoln Heights 1
Los Angeles - Little Armenia 0
Los Angeles - Little Bangladesh 2
Los Angeles - Little Tokyo 0
Los Angeles - Longwood 0
Los Angeles - Los Feliz 6
Los Angeles - Manchester Square --
Los Angeles - Mandeville Canyon --
Los Angeles - Mar Vista 8
Los Angeles - Marina Peninsula --
Los Angeles - Melrose 49
Los Angeles - Mid-City 8
Los Angeles - Miracle Mile 7
Los Angeles - Mission Hills --
Los Angeles - Mt. Washington --
Los Angeles - North Hills 1
Los Angeles - North Hollywood 18
Los Angeles - Northridge 7
Los Angeles - Pacific Palisades 10
Los Angeles - Pacoima 2
Los Angeles - Palisades Highlands 0
Los Angeles - Palms 12
Los Angeles - Panorama City 4
Los Angeles - Park La Brea --
Los Angeles - Pico-Union 5
Los Angeles - Playa Del Rey --
Los Angeles - Playa Vista 5
Los Angeles - Porter Ranch 2
Los Angeles - Rancho Park --
Los Angeles - Regent Square 0
Los Angeles - Reseda 8
Los Angeles - Reseda Ranch --
Los Angeles - Reynier Village --
Los Angeles - San Pedro 8
Los Angeles - Shadow Hills --
Los Angeles - Sherman Oaks 21
Los Angeles - Silver Lake 12
Los Angeles - South Carthay 5
Los Angeles - South Park 3
Los Angeles - St Elmo Village 0
Los Angeles - Studio City 10
Los Angeles - Sun Valley 3
Los Angeles - Sunland 0
Los Angeles - Sycamore Square 0
Los Angeles - Sylmar 4
Los Angeles - Tarzana 17
Los Angeles - Temple-Beaudry 5
Los Angeles - Thai Town --
Los Angeles - Toluca Lake --
Los Angeles - Toluca Terrace 0
Los Angeles - Toluca Woods 0
Los Angeles - Tujunga 2
Los Angeles - University Hills 0
Los Angeles - University Park 4
Los Angeles - Valley Glen 2
Los Angeles - Valley Village 13
Los Angeles - Van Nuys 4
Los Angeles - Venice 11
Los Angeles - Vermont Knolls --
Los Angeles - Vermont Square --
Los Angeles - Vermont Vista 2
Los Angeles - Vernon Central 3
Los Angeles - Victoria Park --
Los Angeles - View Heights 0
Los Angeles - Watts 1
Los Angeles - Wellington Square 0
Los Angeles - West Adams 6
Los Angeles - West Hills 5
Los Angeles - West Los Angeles 9
Los Angeles - West Vernon 6
Los Angeles - Westchester 8
Los Angeles - Westlake 1
Los Angeles - Westwood 16
Los Angeles - Wholesale District 8
Los Angeles - Wilmington 5
Los Angeles - Wilshire Center 4
Los Angeles - Winnetka 3
Los Angeles - Woodland Hills 14
Unincorporated - Acton 0
Unincorporated - Agua Dulce 0
Unincorporated - Altadena 9
Unincorporated - Anaverde 0
Unincorporated - Angeles National Forest 0
Unincorporated - Arcadia 0
Unincorporated - Athens Village 0
Unincorporated - Athens-Westmont 5
Unincorporated - Avocado Heights 0
Unincorporated - Azusa 0
Unincorporated - Bassett 0
Unincorporated - Bouquet Canyon 0
Unincorporated - Bradbury 0
Unincorporated - Canyon Country --
Unincorporated - Castaic 3
Unincorporated - Cerritos 0
Unincorporated - Claremont 0
Unincorporated - Covina --
Unincorporated - Covina (Charter Oak) 0
Unincorporated - Del Aire 0
Unincorporated - Del Rey 0
Unincorporated - Del Sur 0
Unincorporated - Desert View Highlands 0
Unincorporated - Duarte 0
Unincorporated - East Covina 0
Unincorporated - East La Mirada 0
Unincorporated - East Lancaster 0
Unincorporated - East Los Angeles 6
Unincorporated - East Pasadena 0
Unincorporated - East Rancho Dominguez 0
Unincorporated - East Whittier --
Unincorporated - El Camino Village 0
Unincorporated - El Monte 0
Unincorporated - Elizabeth Lake 0
Unincorporated - Florence-Firestone 0
Unincorporated - Glendora 0
Unincorporated - Hacienda Heights 2
Unincorporated - Hawthorne --
Unincorporated - Hi Vista 0
Unincorporated - Kagel/Lopez Canyons 0
Unincorporated - La Crescenta-Montrose 0
Unincorporated - La Habra Heights --
Unincorporated - La Rambla --
Unincorporated - La Verne --
Unincorporated - Ladera Heights 0
Unincorporated - Lake Hughes 0
Unincorporated - Lake Los Angeles 0
Unincorporated - Lake Manor 0
Unincorporated - Lakewood 0
Unincorporated - Lennox --
Unincorporated - Leona Valley 0
Unincorporated - Littlerock 0
Unincorporated - Littlerock/Juniper Hills 0
Unincorporated - Littlerock/Pearblossom 0
Unincorporated - Llano 0
Unincorporated - Long Beach 0
Unincorporated - Marina del Rey --
Unincorporated - Monrovia --
Unincorporated - Newhall 0
Unincorporated - North Lancaster 0
Unincorporated - North Whittier 0
Unincorporated - Northeast San Gabriel 0
Unincorporated - Padua Hills 0
Unincorporated - Palmdale 0
Unincorporated - Palos Verdes Peninsula 0
Unincorporated - Pearblossom/Llano 0
Unincorporated - Pellissier Village 0
Unincorporated - Placerita Canyon 0
Unincorporated - Pomona 0
Unincorporated - Quartz Hill 0
Unincorporated - Rancho Dominguez 0
Unincorporated - Roosevelt 0
Unincorporated - Rosewood 0
Unincorporated - Rosewood/East Gardena 0
Unincorporated - Rosewood/West Rancho Dominguez 0
Unincorporated - Rowland Heights 1
Unincorporated - San Jose Hills 0
Unincorporated - San Pasqual 0
Unincorporated - Sand Canyon 0
Unincorporated - Santa Catalina Island 0
Unincorporated - Santa Monica Mountains 0
Unincorporated - Saugus 0
Unincorporated - Saugus/Canyon Country 0
Unincorporated - South Antelope Valley 0
Unincorporated - South El Monte 0
Unincorporated - South San Gabriel 0
Unincorporated - South Whittier 3
Unincorporated - Southeast Antelope Valley 0
Unincorporated - Stevenson Ranch --
Unincorporated - Sun Village 0
Unincorporated - Sunrise Village 0
Unincorporated - Twin Lakes/Oat Mountain 0
Unincorporated - Val Verde 0
Unincorporated - Valencia --
Unincorporated - Valinda --
Unincorporated - View Park/Windsor Hills 0
Unincorporated - Walnut Park 0
Unincorporated - West Antelope Valley 0
Unincorporated - West Carson 5
Unincorporated - West LA --
Unincorporated - West Puente Valley 0
Unincorporated - West Rancho Dominguez 0
Unincorporated - West Whittier/Los Nietos 0
Unincorporated - Westfield/Academy Hills 0
Unincorporated - Westhills 0
Unincorporated - White Fence Farms 0
Unincorporated - Whittier 0
Unincorporated - Willowbrook 1
Unincorporated - Wiseburn --
- Under Investigation 143
-- Means that case numbers are suppressed (between 1 and 4 cases in communities <25,000 people).


latimes--2020-03-28--From closed beaches to shut businesses, here's what you can't do this weekend

Southern California officials have one message to residents already a bit stir crazy from more than a week of unprecedented restriction on movements due to coronavirus : Stay home .
This weekend brings even more restrictions than last weekend , when officials were alarmed by crowds flocking to beaches , parks and hiking trails .
Most beaches , trails , recreation areas and other points of interest are closed , including in Los Angeles .
The state has also ordered parking lots closed at dozens of state beaches and parks .
But L.A. officials said it ’ s fine to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ through neighborhood parks as long as you social distance .
The U.S. Forest Service has closed campgrounds , picnic areas and other developed recreation sites in its forests statewide , including the Angeles Parking lots have been closed at the following state parks in L.A. County : Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook , El Matador State Beach , Leo Carrillo State Park , Los Angeles State Historic Park , Malibu Creek State Park , Malibu Lagoon State Beach , Point Dume State Beach , Robert H. Meyer Memorial State Beach , Topanga State Park @ @ @ @ @ @ @ At the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area , rangers said Tuesday they were closing all parking areas to vehicles and would stop issuing permits and leading public programs .
These moves follow closures of Solstice Canyon in Malibu , the Santa Monica Mountains Visitor Center at King Gillette Ranch in Calabasas and the Satwiwa Native American Culture Center in Newbury Park .
The Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority has closed all of its parklands , trail and facilities — close to 75,000 acres of parkland , including all parks owned by the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also are closed at beaches operated by the L.A. County Department of Beaches and Harbors .
The county ’ s multi-use trails , trailheads and park facilities that serve as trail staging areas were closed Wednesday until further notice .
Many cities have restricted access to public facilities such as playgrounds , sports courts and fitness equipment often found in parks or along beaches .
Following are closure details for specific communities .
Hermosa Beach : City officials said they would close the beach and and Strand beachfront walkway beginning at 6 a.m. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , tennis courts , volleyball courts , dog parks , playgrounds , skate parks , picnic areas are closed and group exercise in parks is banned .
Parking lots at city-owned parks and beaches will be closed through April 19 .
The city ’ s Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier also will be inaccessible during that time .
Los Angeles : Besides the closure of city tennis courts and skate parks , the Venice pier and trails in Griffith Park and Runyon Canyon Park , virtually all other park facilities have already been shut @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and playgrounds Manhattan Beach : The city has closed all beach parking lots at El Porto , Bruce ’ s Beach , and the Manhattan Beach Pier .
Rancho Palos Verdes : The Palos Verdes Nature Preserve , all city parks , beaches , community centers , amenities and trails are closed until further notice Redondo Beach : City officials closed the pier and boardwalk except to restaurant employees and customers picking up carry-out food orders at designated locations .
The city also closed the Esplanade area ; Veteran ’ s Park and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , stairways , ramps , and paths to the beach ; and a coastal bluff trail between Knob Hill Avenue and George Freeth Way .
Santa Monica : Beach parking lots and the Santa Monica Pier are closed .
Torrance : The Madrona Marsh Preserve are closed at least through April 19 , as are playgrounds , basketball , tennis , pickleball/paddle tennis , bocce and enclosed horseshoe courts .
Sea Aire Golf Course is also closed .
Local orders allow essential businesses such as grocery and drug stores , medical offices , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ repair and warehouse stores to remain open .
California ’ s order has this basic breakdown : • Essential state and local government functions including law enforcement and offices that provide government programs and services .
Los Angeles County sent a blunt alert to residents ’ cellphones Friday : “ Stay home this weekend , and weekends until April 19 .
Only travel to seek medical care , do essential business and run necessary errands.
” Other counties have gone further .
A health officer in California is urging people to exercise only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to stop visiting family in other households .
“ For families in different households , do not mix your households at this time .
As hard as this is , do not gather in any way outside of immediate households , ” Dr. Scott Morrow , health officer in San Mateo County , said in a .
“ As for outdoor exercise , people certainly need to get out , but do this in your own immediate neighborhoods , ” Morrow said .
“ Do not drive except to provide or obtain an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other neighborhoods for recreation .
This increases the risk of virus spread.
” Authorities said they will be out in force this weekend looking for scofflaws but are not planning to cite people if they comply with officers ’ orders to go home .
The Los Angeles Police Department said its officers are not stopping people for violating the city ’ s Safer at Home restrictions .
But officials have threatened to crack down on nonessential businesses that violate the order to close .
City Atty .
Mike Feuer said he has assigned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the strongest possible terms , I urge that Angelenos adhere to the ‘ Safer at Home ’ order , and non-essential businesses shut their doors , ” Feuer said in a statement .
“ Those crucial steps protect all of us .
”

Southern California officials have one message to residents already a bit stir crazy from more than a week of unprecedented restriction on movements due to coronavirus: Stay home.
This weekend brings even more restrictions than last weekend, when officials were alarmed by crowds flocking to beaches, parks and hiking trails.
Most beaches, trails, recreation areas and other points of interest are closed, including trails in Griffith Park and Runyon Canyon Park in Los Angeles. The state has also ordered parking lots closed at dozens of state beaches and parks.
But L.A. officials said it’s fine to walk or jog in your neighborhood or through neighborhood parks as long as you social distance.
Closed
The U.S. Forest Service has closed campgrounds, picnic areas and other developed recreation sites in its forests statewide, including the Angeles
Advertisement
California’s state parks system has closed all campgrounds
Parking lots have been closed at the following state parks in L.A. County: Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook, El Matador State Beach, Leo Carrillo State Park, Los Angeles State Historic Park, Malibu Creek State Park, Malibu Lagoon State Beach, Point Dume State Beach, Robert H. Meyer Memorial State Beach, Topanga State Park and Will Rogers State Historic Park.
At the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, rangers said Tuesday they were closing all parking areas to vehicles and would stop issuing permits and leading public programs.
These moves follow closures of Solstice Canyon in Malibu, the Santa Monica Mountains Visitor Center at King Gillette Ranch in Calabasas and the Satwiwa Native American Culture Center in Newbury Park. The Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority has closed all of its parklands, trail and facilities — close to 75,000 acres of parkland, including all parks owned by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy.
Parking lots also are closed at beaches operated by the L.A. County Department of Beaches and Harbors.
The county’s multi-use trails, trailheads and park facilities that serve as trail staging areas were closed Wednesday until further notice.
Many cities have restricted access to public facilities such as playgrounds, sports courts and fitness equipment often found in parks or along beaches.
Advertisement
Following are closure details for specific communities.
Catalina Island: Closed to visitors.
Hermosa Beach: City officials said they would close the beach and and Strand beachfront walkway beginning at 6 a.m. Saturday.
Long Beach: Basketball courts, tennis courts, volleyball courts, dog parks, playgrounds, skate parks, picnic areas are closed and group exercise in parks is banned. Parking lots at city-owned parks and beaches will be closed through April 19. The city’s Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier also will be inaccessible during that time.
Los Angeles: Besides the closure of city tennis courts and skate parks, the Venice pier and trails in Griffith Park and Runyon Canyon Park, virtually all other park facilities have already been shut down, including golf courses, pools and playgrounds
Malibu: L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva closed beach parking lots along Malibu’s 26 miles of coastline. Malibu Pier closed.
Manhattan Beach: The city has closed all beach parking lots at El Porto, Bruce’s Beach, and the Manhattan Beach Pier.
Rancho Palos Verdes: The Palos Verdes Nature Preserve, all city parks, beaches, community centers, amenities and trails are closed until further notice
Redondo Beach: City officials closed the pier and boardwalk except to restaurant employees and customers picking up carry-out food orders at designated locations. The city also closed the Esplanade area; Veteran’s Park and nearby parking areas; all public walkways, stairways, ramps, and paths to the beach; and a coastal bluff trail between Knob Hill Avenue and George Freeth Way.
Santa Monica: Beach parking lots and the Santa Monica Pier are closed.
Torrance: The Madrona Marsh Preserve are closed at least through April 19, as are playgrounds, basketball, tennis, pickleball/paddle tennis, bocce and enclosed horseshoe courts. Sea Aire Golf Course is also closed.
Businesses
Local orders allow essential businesses such as grocery and drug stores, medical offices, healthcare companies, gas stations, auto repair and warehouse stores to remain open. California’s order has this basic breakdown:
What stays open:
Pharmacies
Food: Grocery stores, farmers markets, food banks, convenience stores, takeout and delivery restaurants
Banks
Gas stations
Laundromats/laundry services
Essential state and local government functions including law enforcement and offices that provide government programs and services.
What is closed:
Bars and nightclubs
Entertainment venues
Gyms and fitness studios
Public events and gatherings
Convention Centers
Dine-in restaurants
Getting around
Los Angeles County sent a blunt alert to residents’ cellphones Friday: “Stay home this weekend, and weekends until April 19. Only travel to seek medical care, do essential business and run necessary errands.”
Other counties have gone further.
A health officer in California is urging people to exercise only in their own immediate neighborhoods, and to stop visiting family in other households.
“For families in different households, do not mix your households at this time. As hard as this is, do not gather in any way outside of immediate households,” Dr. Scott Morrow, health officer in San Mateo County, said in a statement .
“As for outdoor exercise, people certainly need to get out, but do this in your own immediate neighborhoods,” Morrow said. “Do not drive except to provide or obtain an essential service. Do not go into other neighborhoods for recreation. This increases the risk of virus spread.”
Enforcement
Authorities said they will be out in force this weekend looking for scofflaws but are not planning to cite people if they comply with officers’ orders to go home.
The Los Angeles Police Department said its officers are not stopping people for violating the city’s Safer at Home restrictions.
But officials have threatened to crack down on nonessential businesses that violate the order to close.
City Atty. Mike Feuer said he has assigned prosecutors to the task.
“In the strongest possible terms, I urge that Angelenos adhere to the ‘Safer at Home’ order, and non-essential businesses shut their doors,” Feuer said in a statement. “Those crucial steps protect all of us.”


latimes--2020-03-28--Coronavirus forces See's Candies to suspend production for first time since World War II

See ’ s Candies , a California chocolate institution , is suspending production because of the coronavirus .
It ’ s only the second time in See ’ s 99-year history that production has been interrupted , the first being when it was halted due to rationing during World War II .
“ Given the current events with COVID-19 , and our concern for the health and safety of our employees , we have made the decision to initiate an interruption once again , ” the South San Francisco company said in a statement .
“ We will work to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to safely resume operations.
” The first See ’ s store opened in Los Angeles in 1921 by a trio of Canadian immigrants : Charles See ; his wife , Florence ; and his mother , Mary .
That grandmotherly face on See ’ s trademark black-and-white boxes belongs to Mary See , and her recipes were the foundation of the operation .
In 2017 , See ’ s Candies was expecting to sell between $ 400 million and $ 450 million of candy , and had 1,500 employees , with more workers @ @ @ @ @ @

The first See’s store was opened in L.A. in 1921 by three members of an immigrant family.
See’s Candies, a California chocolate institution, is suspending production because of the coronavirus.
It’s only the second time in See’s 99-year history that production has been interrupted, the first being when it was halted due to rationing during World War II.
“Given the current events with COVID-19, and our concern for the health and safety of our employees, we have made the decision to initiate an interruption once again,” the South San Francisco company said in a statement. “We will work to keep you updated as we develop plans to safely resume operations.”
The first See’s store opened in Los Angeles in 1921 by a trio of Canadian immigrants: Charles See; his wife, Florence; and his mother, Mary. That grandmotherly face on See’s trademark black-and-white boxes belongs to Mary See, and her recipes were the foundation of the operation.
Advertisement
In 2017, See’s Candies was expecting to sell between $400 million and $450 million of candy, and had 1,500 employees, with more workers added during the winter holidays.


latimes--2020-03-28--At a nursing home for L.A.'s wealthy, coronavirus diagnoses stir anger and questions

In a get-what-you-pay-for world , the families of Silverado Beverly Place expect a lot .
The posh nursing home near the Fairfax district styles itself a geriatric luxury resort with 125 dementia patients offered gourmet meals , yacht trips , art shows , live entertainment and , as described by one pleased customer , the regular aroma of baking cookies .
The price tag can run north of $ 15,000 a month .
So it was with outrage and a sense of being cheated that some well-heeled Westside families greeted the news of an apparent outbreak of COVID-19 at the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ facility last week tested positive shortly after his arrival and since then , a second resident and an employee have also come down with the virus .
Relatives have lashed out at management as incompetent and greedy for allowing a new resident — one apparently carrying the virus — to move in when the Silverado , like nursing homes across the state , was strictly limiting visitors to prevent infection .
“ This was about money ... .
If they were thinking about our parents , none of this would have happened , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ resident .
She and other relatives spoke on the condition of anonymity , saying they feared ramifications for their loved ones ’ care .
In a statement , a spokesman for the facility ’ s parent company noted that the new resident had no symptoms at the time he entered the building and defended the company and administrators .
“ Nothing is more important to us than the safety of our residents and the associates who care for them each day , and we ’ re proud of our team ’ s dedication @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said Jeff Frum , spokesman for Irvine-based Silverado , a privately held firm that runs 19 upscale memory care homes and 11 hospices across the nation .
Dozens of concerned and , in some cases , irate family members have confronted Chief Executive Loren Shook and a facility administrator in Zoom conference calls in recent days , according to four participants .
They described sometimes raucous discussions in which adult children of residents , a high-powered set that included entertainment industry players , business executives and at least one doctor , demanded answers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Shook told the crowd that by this point in the pandemic , the virus was so widespread in society that one might pick it up in Costco .
The Silverado is not Costco , someone shot back , according to attendees .
“ It was just a blood bath , ” said one woman whose mother lives at the Silverado .
“ One man said , ‘ I am the CEO of a publicly traded company and you are tone-deaf .
You should be embarrassed .
You did this for greed.
’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ] ” Frum , the company spokesman , said that although most families were supportive and understanding , “ there are a couple of family members that have high emotions over this and we respect that.
” Nursing homes , with their high concentration of the elderly and chronically ill , have been ground zero for the coronavirus .
One of the deadly pathogen ’ s first footholds in the United States was at the Life Care Center nursing home in Kirkland , Wash. , where and 47 workers fell ill , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ outbreaks have been reported at homes in Long Island , Delaware , Missouri and Oklahoma .
Officials in New Jersey announced Wednesday that all 94 residents of a Woodbridge nursing home were being evacuated after more than a quarter tested positive .
In Los Angeles , public health authorities are monitoring outbreaks at several assisted-living facilities including Kensington Redondo Beach , Belmont Village senior living in Hollywood and Alameda Care Center in Burbank .
The Silverado cited fear of COVID-19 on March 12 when it asked families to stop visiting the three-story building @ @ @ @ @ @ @ following days , the facility also canceled events and barred the private paid companions many families hire for additional help .
But seven days after it started limiting access , on the evening of March 19 , the Silverado allowed an elderly man to move into a unit for people suffering from mild dementia .
Asked why the patient was admitted , Frum said he could not disclose details for confidentiality reasons , but noted that some dementia patients may display behaviors that “ are tough to handle in the home setting , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to their residences all day .
Within 24 hours , the man became ill enough that an administrator called 911 and he was taken by ambulance to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center .
The next day , he tested positive for the virus .
On Thursday , Shook informed relatives by email that another resident and an employee who worked on two floors of the building were both positive .
Both residents have since been released from the hospital ; the first is recuperating at another location and the second is in isolation at the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ home , according to emails sent to residents ’ relatives .
Frum , the company spokesman , said that the first man stricken was in isolation when he fell ill , but relatives said the nurse who runs the Beverly Place location told them in a conference call that the man had contact with other residents and staff during his brief stay .
Frum suggested the two others who came down with the virus did not necessarily get it from the new resident .
He noted that Silverado employees come and go from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ family members and , often , taking public transportation .
Asked whether the three cases were related , he said , “ We don ’ t know .
There ’ s no way to tell.
” Silverado placed a 14-day moratorium on admitting new residents earlier this week .
The question of who should , and should not , be admitted to a nursing home is becoming a matter of heated debate between among industry leaders , many of whom are desperate to keep the deadly virus out of their nursing homes , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are places for people in need .
The latest guidance from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services , issued in mid-March , is for nursing homes to accept anyone they would “ normally admit to their facility.
” At about the same time , the U.S Department of Veterans Affairs , which runs 134 nursing homes , announced it would “ suspend new admissions ” owing to COVID-19 concerns .
The thorniest issue has been what to do with nursing home residents discharged from hospitals .
Some homes are refusing to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ test proving they are virus-free , and regulators in New York have ordered homes to accept residents returning from the hospital even if they are infected .
For the Silverado families , there is waiting and worry .
No other residents are currently exhibiting symptoms and the facility has secured an agreement with a private lab to test residents “ where appropriate .
”

A man recently admitted to the upscale Silverado Beverly Place nursing home tested positive for coronavirus shortly after his arrival. Since then, a second resident and an employee have also come down with the virus, angering relatives of residents at the home.
In a get-what-you-pay-for world, the families of Silverado Beverly Place expect a lot.
The posh nursing home near the Fairfax district styles itself a geriatric luxury resort with 125 dementia patients offered gourmet meals, yacht trips, art shows, live entertainment and, as described by one pleased customer, the regular aroma of baking cookies.
The price tag can run north of $15,000 a month.
So it was with outrage and a sense of being cheated that some well-heeled Westside families greeted the news of an apparent outbreak of COVID-19 at the Silverado.
Advertisement
A man admitted to the facility last week tested positive shortly after his arrival and since then, a second resident and an employee have also come down with the virus.
Relatives have lashed out at management as incompetent and greedy for allowing a new resident — one apparently carrying the virus — to move in when the Silverado, like nursing homes across the state, was strictly limiting visitors to prevent infection.
California Here are 8 bizarre scenes from empty downtown Los Angeles As we all adjust to our new lives under the umbrella of the coronavirus, Los Angeles Times photographer Luis Sinco gives us a look at downtown Los Angeles with the spotlight on Broadway.
“This was about money.... If they were thinking about our parents, none of this would have happened,” said the adult daughter of one resident. She and other relatives spoke on the condition of anonymity, saying they feared ramifications for their loved ones’ care.
In a statement, a spokesman for the facility’s parent company noted that the new resident had no symptoms at the time he entered the building and defended the company and administrators.
“Nothing is more important to us than the safety of our residents and the associates who care for them each day, and we’re proud of our team’s dedication and professionalism during this pandemic,” said Jeff Frum, spokesman for Irvine-based Silverado, a privately held firm that runs 19 upscale memory care homes and 11 hospices across the nation.
Advertisement
Dozens of concerned and, in some cases, irate family members have confronted Chief Executive Loren Shook and a facility administrator in Zoom conference calls in recent days, according to four participants.
They described sometimes raucous discussions in which adult children of residents, a high-powered set that included entertainment industry players, business executives and at least one doctor, demanded answers.
At one point, they said, Shook told the crowd that by this point in the pandemic, the virus was so widespread in society that one might pick it up in Costco.
The Silverado is not Costco, someone shot back, according to attendees.
“It was just a blood bath,” said one woman whose mother lives at the Silverado. “One man said, ‘I am the CEO of a publicly traded company and you are tone-deaf. You should be embarrassed. You did this for greed.’ People were all over [Shook.]”
1 / 83 Socially distanced bikers and walkers, against a backdrop of the Queen Mary, make their way along pedestrian and beach bike path on the first day that Long Beach reopened the path on Monday May 11, 2020. The city of Long Beach eased a few of its public health restrictions, allowing under certain guidelines the reopening of pedestrian and beach bike paths, tennis centers and courts. Beach bathrooms are also reopening, but the parking lots and beaches still remain closed. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times) 2 / 83 Traffic remains light on the southbound 110 Freeway headed toward downtown Los Angeles on April 28. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 83 Dominique Barrett, center, known as “King Vader” to his 2.4 million TikTok followers, prepares to shoot a video on April 30 in Glendora. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 83 Cody Purcell of Redondo Beach rides a wave, glowing from the bioluminescence, in Hermosa Beach, CA, after midnight Friday morning, May 8. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times) 5 / 83 Friends play spikeball, a game perfect for social distancing on an open but restricted San Buenaventura State Beach. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 6 / 83 The majority of golfers are wearing masks while hitting balls on the driving range at Van Buren Executive Golf Course in Riverside. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 83 Beaches including Harbor Cove Beach were open but beachgoers were not supposed to be sitting on the sand. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 8 / 83 Tango instructor Yelizaveta Nersesova leads a Zoom tango event from her Los Angeles home April 27 that brought together hundreds of dancers from around the world. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times) 9 / 83 Grocery store workers, joined by United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Local 770 representatives and community members, hold a rally in support of strict social distancing on May 1 at a Ralphs store in Hollywood where 19 employees have tested positive for COVID-19. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) 10 / 83 Mostly masked commuters keep their distance from one another on a Metro bus in downtown Los Angeles on April 29. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times) 11 / 83 Gregory Kuhl, 69, heads home after a shopping trip in Hollywood on April 28. Big cracks in the street, cars parked in driveways blocking sidewalks and uneven pavement levels make navigating his route difficult. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times) 12 / 83 Tenants and their supporters from across Los Angeles gather at city hall to call on L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, the L.A. City Council and California Gov. Gavin Newsom to cancel rent and mortgage payments during the COVID-19 crisis. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 13 / 83 Aerial view of over 100 vehicles lined up at the West Valley COVID-19 testing center at Warner Center in Woodland Hills. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 14 / 83 Senior Mason Wise, left, helps his sister, Mackenzie, a sophomore, clean out her PE locker at El Camino Real Charter High School in Woodland Hills. School officials were allowing no more than five students at a time on campus to take home their belongings. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 15 / 83 Shuttered storefront businesses in the garment district of Los Angeles. California’s unemployment rate has skyrocketed since the statewide coronavirus shutdown took effect. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 16 / 83 Healthcare workers celebrate as Claudia Martinez is discharged from the ICU after she recovered from COVID-19 at Scripps Mercy Hospital in Chula Vista. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 17 / 83 Carson residents Kaeli Burks, 3, left, and her cousin Bailey Watson, 5, look out the window of their car after their mothers helped them with self-testing at a new drive-up testing site for COVID-19 in Carson. Free COVID-19 testing is available to all city residents thanks to a partnership between the city and US Health Fairs. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 18 / 83 Norm and Tracy Kahn enjoy eating dinner outside on a small cafe table sitting in blue chairs on their side yard during the coronavirus pandemic on April 27 in Riverside. “During this pandemic, eating outside offers us an opportunity to change surrounding and appreciate the calmness of being outdoors among trees, scents from nature and the sounds of birds,” she said. Also adding, “Mixing up where we eat puts variety into our days and takes away the sameness of feeling trapped at home.” (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 19 / 83 Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center nurses carry supplies outside the hospital. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 20 / 83 Tom Sean Foley pauses on a walk with his kids, Cathelen Claire, “C.C.,” 3, and Timothy Joseph, 4, to take a photo in front of the “Love Wall,” mural by artist Curtis Kulig, outside of Smashbox Studios in Culver City. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) 21 / 83 Protesters stand along Mission Blvd. in Pacific Beach during A Day of Liberty rally on April 26. The protesters were against the government shutdown due to the coronavirus. (K.C. Alfred / San Diego Union-Tribune) 22 / 83 People make orders at a food truck along Shoreline Avenue in Long Beach. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 23 / 83 Medical staff, wearing protective gear, work inside a COVID-19 isolation area inside the emergency department at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center in Los Angeles, where patients with the virus are being treated. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) 24 / 83 Neighbors practice social distancing while enjoying the nice weather near The Strand in Hermosa Beach. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times) 25 / 83 Counter-protesters attend a protest to call on state and local officials to reopen the economy in downtown Los Angeles. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times) 26 / 83 A group of protesters cheer on cars during a vehicle caravan protest to call on state and local officials to reopen the economy in downtown Los Angeles. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times) 27 / 83 Cedar Mountain Post Acute Rehabilitation staff member Navi Cavaltera waters a flower pot put up by the community to show their support for the nursing staff of the facility in Yucaipa. Eighteen of 20 coronavirus-related deaths in Yucaipa were residents of the skilled nursing facility. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 28 / 83 A pedestrian wearing a protective mask passes a mural on a store on Melrose Avenue in the Fairfax district of Los Angeles. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 29 / 83 Jonte Florence, a freestyle dancer, does a handstand on a mostly empty Hollywood Walk of Fame. Florence said he normally performs for hundreds of tourists along the busy street. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 30 / 83 The Tyrannosaurus rex overlooking the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue wears a protective mask while practicing social distancing. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 31 / 83 Businesses are shuttered and pedestrians are few and far between on Hollywood Boulevard. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 32 / 83 Daniel Rogerson wears a vintage military gas mask while riding a bike along the beach path in Santa Monica, which is closed to enforce social distancing because of the coronavirus pandemic. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 33 / 83 A face mask seller in colorful dress appears to be part of a mural behind a bus stop on Soto Street in Los Angeles. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 34 / 83 Life around Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard and Soto Street has slowed down as California officials extended stay-at-home orders into May and residents entered Easter weekend with unprecedented limits on their movements. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 35 / 83 UC Irvine Medical Center health care workers return their gratitude as about 25 Orange County first responder vehicles participate in a drive-by parade of gratitude as they battle COVID-19 at the hospital. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 36 / 83 Billy Budd, 55, of Hollywood, walks along Hollywood Boulevard with a protective face covering. Budd is a scenic artist for movies and television who is currently out of work due to the coronavirus outbreak. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) 37 / 83 Stuart Reyes and his sister, Stephanie, sell masks for $5 each on the 3000 block of West Century Boulevard in Inglewood. Stuart Reyes said he is selling masks to support his mother. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 38 / 83 A jogger runs on a closed trail past dozens of pieces of caution tape, torn off by hikers and mountain bikers at El Escorpion Canyon Park in West Hills. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 39 / 83 Alex Herron and nurse Mercy Pineda at a blood drive sponsored by USC athletics and the American Red Cross at USC’s Galen Center. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 40 / 83 Los Angeles City Hall displays blue lights to show support for healthcare workers and first responders. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 41 / 83 After being indoors for several days because of rainy weather and coronavirus stay-at-home orders, Olivia Jacobs, 4, and her mom, Cia Jacobs, enjoy a warm and sunny afternoon making chalk drawings on the sidewalk in front of their home in West Hills. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 42 / 83 An Oceanview Plaza security guard sports a whimsical mask while on patrol. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 43 / 83 Jacob De Wilde, left, and Lesli Lytle load a car with food during a food distribution organized to mark Good Friday. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 44 / 83 As a late season storm continues to make its way across the Southland, a young basketball player dribbles along an alley through an Elysian Park neighborhood in Los Angeles. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) 45 / 83 People are silhouetted in a window of an apartment building in Hollywood, where a stay-at-home order remains in effect to help curb the spread of the coronavirus. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 46 / 83 The Wilshire Grand Center display blue lights and a heart to show support for healthcare workers and first responders. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 47 / 83 Women wear masks as they stroll along Highland Avenue in Hollywood. Wearing masks while outdoors is mandatory in the city of Los Angeles. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 48 / 83 Patients are removed from Magnolia Rehabilitation and Nursing Center after 39 tested positive for the coronavirus and nursing staff was not showing up to work. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 49 / 83 A specimen is turned in at the new mobile testing site for people with symptoms of the coronavirus at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in South Los Angeles. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times) 50 / 83 Hippie Kitchen in Los Angeles hands out food, water and toiletries to homeless people and residents of skid row. Additionally, masks were offered to help reduce the spread of the coronavirus. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) 51 / 83 Nurses pose for a fun photo during a break in drive-through public testing for the coronavirus at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 52 / 83 A woman shows a notice from her doctor that allows her to obtain a test for coronavirus at a new drive-up testing site in a parking lot at the South Bay Galleria in Redondo Beach. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 53 / 83 A person who wishes to remain anonymous strikes from her car to support McDonald’s employees who are demanding the company cover healthcare costs of any worker or immediate family member who gets sick from COVID-19 in Los Angeles. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times) 54 / 83 Cassidy Roosen, with Beach Cities Health District, holds up a sign that says, “We’re All in This Together,” while waiting to direct cars at a drive-through, appointment-only coronavirus testing location at the South Bay Galleria in Redondo Beach. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) 55 / 83 Juliann Hartman, center, and her husband, Butch, wave signs they created to cheer up people on Calabasas Road in Calabasas during the pandemic. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) 56 / 83 Grace Carter, 15, of Riverside, practices a dance routine at home after dance classes and school were canceled. She has to use the Zoom app on her iPhone to practice with her dance group. “It’s hard,” she said. “My bedroom is a smaller space. I miss all my friends at the studio.” (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 57 / 83 A man works from his home in Long Beach. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 58 / 83 A San Bernardino County healthcare worker takes a sample at a coronavirus drive-through testing site at the county fairgrounds in Victorville. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 59 / 83 A Metro general service employee disinfects a bench in Boyle Heights. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 60 / 83 A runner jogs past the Pottery Barn in Pasadena. Some businesses in the area have boarded up their stores. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 61 / 83 Raquel Lezama and daughter Monica Ramos collect meals for their family at Manual Arts High School. Lezama was laid off from her $17.76-an-hour job at a Beverly Hills hotel. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 62 / 83 The Iron City Tavern in San Pedro tries an incentive to lure takeout customers. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 63 / 83 Healthcare workers gather outside UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center to call for further action from the federal government in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 64 / 83 Kristen Edgerle, of Victorville, collects information from a blood donor before drawing blood at The Richard Nixon Presidential Library blood drive during the coronavirus pandemic in Yorba Linda. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times) 65 / 83 Shauna Jin, of Los Angeles, with her dog, Bodhi, practices social distancing with John Kiss, of Los Angeles, at the entrance of Runyon Canyon Park in Los Angeles. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 66 / 83 A lending library had some additional useful items, including a roll of toilet paper and cans of beans and corn, in a Hermosa Beach neighborhood. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) 67 / 83 Protesters drive by the Getty House, the home of L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, in Hancock Park. Tenant advocates are demanding a total moratorium on evictions during the coronavirus crisis. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 68 / 83 Venice residents Emily Berry and Gavin Kelley take a break at Venice Beach. Berry, a cocktail waitress at Enterprise Fish Co., lost her job due to the coronavirus outbreak. Kelley, a manager at a performing arts school with a focus on music, said that he still has a job and that classes at the school will resume online this coming Monday. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) 69 / 83 The JW Marriott at L.A. Live is sharing a message of hope with red lights in 34 windows, creating a 19-story display on the hotel’s north side. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 70 / 83 Juan Diaz Jr., a lifelong Dodgers fan, prays that the season will start by May in front of Dodger Stadium on what would have been opening day. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) 71 / 83 Hayley, CEO and founder of Love My Neighbor Foundation, right, dances with Crystal Armster, 51, while she and her colleagues continue to feed the homeless on skid row amid the pandemic. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 72 / 83 A masked passenger on a Metro bus in downtown Los Angeles. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 73 / 83 Dede Oneal waits for a coronavirus test at the Crenshaw Christian Center in South Los Angeles. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 74 / 83 A man in a mask passes a closed restaurant along Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 75 / 83 Artist Corie Mattie paints a mural on the side of a pop-up store as a man takes a picture in West Hollywood. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 76 / 83 Medical assistant Zoila Villalta works with Rosie Boston, 32, of Glendale, who is donating blood for her first time at L.A. Care Health Plan downtown. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 77 / 83 A couple wait for a bus outside the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 78 / 83 With all Los Angeles schools closed until further notice, LAUSD buses sit idle in Gardena. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 79 / 83 A lone traveler makes his way to catch a flight in Tom Bradley International Terminal. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 80 / 83 Denise Young looks on as her daughter, Allison, 9, a fourth-grader at EARThS (Environmental Academy of Research Technology and Earth Sciences) Magnet School in Newbury Park, receives a Chromebook. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) 81 / 83 Hollywood Boulevard is devoid of the usual crowds. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 82 / 83 Michael Ray, 11, plays before a movie at the Paramount Drive-In. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 83 / 83 Isabella Leader, 15, counts how many flags have been left for World War II veteran Lt. Col. Sam Sachs who was celebrating his 105th birthday at the Mom & Dad’s House, an assisted living facility, in Lakewood. Lt. Col. Sachs appealed to the public for birthday cards after the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of a big celebration and wound up receiving thousands, including a letter and photo from President Trump. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Frum, the company spokesman, said that although most families were supportive and understanding, “there are a couple of family members that have high emotions over this and we respect that.”
Nursing homes, with their high concentration of the elderly and chronically ill, have been ground zero for the coronavirus. One of the deadly pathogen’s first footholds in the United States was at the Life Care Center nursing home in Kirkland, Wash., where two-thirds of the residents and 47 workers fell ill, and 37 people died.
Since then, outbreaks have been reported at homes in Long Island, Delaware, Missouri and Oklahoma. Officials in New Jersey announced Wednesday that all 94 residents of a Woodbridge nursing home were being evacuated after more than a quarter tested positive.
In Los Angeles, public health authorities are monitoring outbreaks at several assisted-living facilities including Kensington Redondo Beach, Belmont Village senior living in Hollywood and Alameda Care Center in Burbank.
The Silverado cited fear of COVID-19 on March 12 when it asked families to stop visiting the three-story building on North Hayworth Street. In the following days, the facility also canceled events and barred the private paid companions many families hire for additional help.
But seven days after it started limiting access, on the evening of March 19, the Silverado allowed an elderly man to move into a unit for people suffering from mild dementia.
Asked why the patient was admitted, Frum said he could not disclose details for confidentiality reasons, but noted that some dementia patients may display behaviors that “are tough to handle in the home setting,” particularly when many families are confined to their residences all day.
Within 24 hours, the man became ill enough that an administrator called 911 and he was taken by ambulance to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. The next day, he tested positive for the virus.
On Thursday, Shook informed relatives by email that another resident and an employee who worked on two floors of the building were both positive.
Both residents have since been released from the hospital; the first is recuperating at another location and the second is in isolation at the Silverado. The worker is isolated at home, according to emails sent to residents’ relatives.
Frum, the company spokesman, said that the first man stricken was in isolation when he fell ill, but relatives said the nurse who runs the Beverly Place location told them in a conference call that the man had contact with other residents and staff during his brief stay.
Frum suggested the two others who came down with the virus did not necessarily get it from the new resident. He noted that Silverado employees come and go from the facility, interacting with their own family members and, often, taking public transportation.
Asked whether the three cases were related, he said, “We don’t know. There’s no way to tell.”
Silverado placed a 14-day moratorium on admitting new residents earlier this week.
The question of who should, and should not, be admitted to a nursing home is becoming a matter of heated debate between among industry leaders, many of whom are desperate to keep the deadly virus out of their nursing homes, and regulators trying to make sure there are places for people in need.
The latest guidance from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, issued in mid-March, is for nursing homes to accept anyone they would “normally admit to their facility.”
At about the same time, the U.S Department of Veterans Affairs, which runs 134 nursing homes, announced it would “suspend new admissions” owing to COVID-19 concerns.
The thorniest issue has been what to do with nursing home residents discharged from hospitals. Some homes are refusing to take residents back unless they have a test proving they are virus-free, and regulators in New York have ordered homes to accept residents returning from the hospital even if they are infected.
For the Silverado families, there is waiting and worry. No other residents are currently exhibiting symptoms and the facility has secured an agreement with a private lab to test residents “where appropriate.”


latimes--2020-03-28--How do you help a couple celebrate their 70th anniversary during coronavirus crisis? Happily and car

How do you help a couple celebrate their 70th anniversary during coronavirus crisis? Happily and carefully

Harry Polakow was surprised when he heard a knock on his front door .
He and his wife Libby are in their 90s and not supposed to have company .
But Wednesday was the couple ’ s 70th wedding anniversary .
And their Granada Hills neighbors were not about to let the coronavirus make them celebrate the day alone .
Carrying flowers , balloons and homemade chocolate cake , they ’ d gathered — six feet apart , of course — on the lawn , in the driveway and on the sidewalk to toast the pair and serenade them with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all love them too much to let the day go unnoticed , ” next door neighbor Brad Smith later told me .
He and wife Maria organized the fete and enlisted neighbors to help .
They had no trouble rallying folks to the cause .
The Polakows have lived in their home since it was built in 1964 , before many of their neighbors were born .
“ They ’ re known throughout the neighborhood , ” Brad Smith said .
“ When we say we live next door to Harry and Libby @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Neighbor Jean Lionelli had to rap on their window to get Harry to open the door .
He broke into a smile as they made their way onto the front porch .
Libby held tightly to her husband ’ s arm , smiling and waving like a Rose Parade queen .
Harry , at 94 ever the raconteur , regaled the group with an anecdote from his wedding day .
“ The rabbi gave me 50 good years , and I said ‘ I ’ ll take that ’ .
But somehow we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , wrapping an arm around his now 90-year-old bride .
Their makeshift celebration was nothing like the country club gala the Polakows ’ children had planned .
But it was a reminder that neighborhood bonds can be stronger than coronavirus bans .
The coronavirus restrictions hit the couple hard .
Harry ’ s a little hard of hearing , and Libby ’ s memory is getting fuzzy .
Yet though most of their old friends have passed , they still had active social lives .
They did their own grocery shopping and worshiped @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up and enjoyed lunch dates frequently .
Harry played cards with his temple buddies three days a week .
They spent time with their children and looked forward to their granddaughter ’ s visits ; now she can only drop off food and leave .
“ The last two weeks , I haven ’ t been allowed to go out of the house at all , ” Harry told me in our phone interview .
But there was no hint of complaint in his voice .
“ We ’ re blessed , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ got a lot of family and friends to take care of us.
” The caretaking goes both ways , their neighbors say .
In their younger days , the Polakows helped neighbors plant gardens , guided home repairs and hosted gatherings , with Harry ’ s sister , who lived across the street .
They always sprang for Girl Scout cookies , gave out king-sized candy bars every Halloween , and patronized the kids ’ sidewalk lemonade stands .
And no matter how sour or seedy the drink , they always pronounced it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the glue that holds the neighborhood together , ” said Heather Cowie Eaton , who lives across the street and brought her 12-year old son Jameson .
“ They ’ re like honorary grandparents to all the kids on the block.
” Roushdy Shenouda nodded vigorously .
He ’ s a professional chef , and baked the party cake — which Harry and Libby took inside to devour .
“ You couldn ’ t ask for better neighbors , ” he said .
Their mere presence gives the block a feeling of stability @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t last long .
Within 20 minutes , everyone was back inside their individual homes .
But the feeling of friendliness lingered for me .
I found myself waving at strangers as I drove down the street .
I thought about how I often judge my neighborhood from the tenor of our Nextdoor feed , which focuses on our needs , our fears , our disagreements .
And how much better I might feel , in this time of sacrifice and peril , if I thought more about my in-real-life encounters with actual @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about me .
For months , Harry and Libby had been looking forward to their anniversary gathering .
“ My daughter belongs to a country club , and she had things all planned out said , ” Harry told me .
A nephew was coming from Cleveland ; another nephew and niece were flying out from Chicago .
Then the virus shuttered the club , grounded flights and forced the couple to stay inside and self-isolate .
They ’ re not spending much time worrying about how vulnerable they might be .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Harry , particularly , misses being around people .
His career was in the grocery business , and he enjoyed the socializing .
“ But people have to sacrifice , ” he said .
“ You do what you can do.
” He ’ s a World War II vet who fell in love with Libby in 1946 , right after he was discharged and moved home to Chicago .
“ I went down to the beach and met this lovely 18-year-old , ” he said .
“ She had a blanket and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over and sat down and talked with her.
” He impressed Libby by borrowing a friend ’ s 1947 Plymouth and letting her believe he owned it .
Then he spent $ 60 — almost an entire month ’ s veteran stipend — on dinner at Chicago ’ s legendary Palmer House .
When he proposed , how could she possibly say no ?
Libby may have thought she was marrying a high roller .
Instead she has spent the last 46 years rooted to a modest tract home in a sleepy suburb @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s “ most neighborly town.
” And she ’ s content with that — even when it ’ s on lockdown .

Libby and Harry Polakow greet neighbors who gathered Wednesday in Granada Hills to celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary.
Harry Polakow was surprised when he heard a knock on his front door. He and his wife Libby are in their 90s and not supposed to have company.
But Wednesday was the couple’s 70th wedding anniversary. And their Granada Hills neighbors were not about to let the coronavirus make them celebrate the day alone.
Carrying flowers, balloons and homemade chocolate cake, they’d gathered — six feet apart, of course — on the lawn, in the driveway and on the sidewalk to toast the pair and serenade them with the “Anniversary Waltz.”
“We all love them too much to let the day go unnoticed,” next door neighbor Brad Smith later told me. He and wife Maria organized the fete and enlisted neighbors to help.
Advertisement
They had no trouble rallying folks to the cause. The Polakows have lived in their home since it was built in 1964, before many of their neighbors were born.
Due to restrictions on how close people can be to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, neighbors celebrated from outside and stood apart from each other. (Dania Maxwell/Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times)
“They’re known throughout the neighborhood,” Brad Smith said. “When we say we live next door to Harry and Libby, everyone knows where that is.”
Neighbor Jean Lionelli had to rap on their window to get Harry to open the door. He broke into a smile as they made their way onto the front porch. Libby held tightly to her husband’s arm, smiling and waving like a Rose Parade queen. Harry, at 94 ever the raconteur, regaled the group with an anecdote from his wedding day.
“The rabbi gave me 50 good years, and I said ‘I’ll take that’. But somehow we got to 70,” he said, wrapping an arm around his now 90-year-old bride.
Their makeshift celebration was nothing like the country club gala the Polakows’ children had planned. But it was a reminder that neighborhood bonds can be stronger than coronavirus bans.
The coronavirus restrictions hit the couple hard. Harry’s a little hard of hearing, and Libby’s memory is getting fuzzy. Yet though most of their old friends have passed, they still had active social lives.
They did their own grocery shopping and worshiped at their temple regularly. They dressed up and enjoyed lunch dates frequently. Harry played cards with his temple buddies three days a week. They spent time with their children and looked forward to their granddaughter’s visits; now she can only drop off food and leave.
“The last two weeks, I haven’t been allowed to go out of the house at all,” Harry told me in our phone interview. But there was no hint of complaint in his voice.
Advertisement
“We’re blessed,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of family and friends to take care of us.”
Neighbors gather to celebrate the 70th wedding anniversary of Harry and Libby Polakow. (Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times)
The caretaking goes both ways, their neighbors say. In their younger days, the Polakows helped neighbors plant gardens, guided home repairs and hosted gatherings, with Harry’s sister, who lived across the street.
They always sprang for Girl Scout cookies, gave out king-sized candy bars every Halloween, and patronized the kids’ sidewalk lemonade stands. And no matter how sour or seedy the drink, they always pronounced it deliciously refreshing.
“They’re the glue that holds the neighborhood together,” said Heather Cowie Eaton, who lives across the street and brought her 12-year old son Jameson. “They’re like honorary grandparents to all the kids on the block.”
Roushdy Shenouda nodded vigorously. He’s a professional chef, and baked the party cake — which Harry and Libby took inside to devour. “You couldn’t ask for better neighbors,” he said. Their mere presence gives the block a feeling of stability.
The little street gathering didn’t last long. Within 20 minutes, everyone was back inside their individual homes. But the feeling of friendliness lingered for me. I found myself waving at strangers as I drove down the street.
I thought about how I often judge my neighborhood from the tenor of our Nextdoor feed, which focuses on our needs, our fears, our disagreements. And how much better I might feel, in this time of sacrifice and peril, if I thought more about my in-real-life encounters with actual people who live nearby and actually care about me.
For months, Harry and Libby had been looking forward to their anniversary gathering.
“My daughter belongs to a country club, and she had things all planned out said,” Harry told me. A nephew was coming from Cleveland; another nephew and niece were flying out from Chicago. Then the virus shuttered the club, grounded flights and forced the couple to stay inside and self-isolate.
They’re not spending much time worrying about how vulnerable they might be. But they are taking shelter-in-place very seriously. Harry, particularly, misses being around people. His career was in the grocery business, and he enjoyed the socializing.
“But people have to sacrifice,” he said. “You do what you can do.”
He’s a World War II vet who fell in love with Libby in 1946, right after he was discharged and moved home to Chicago.
“I went down to the beach and met this lovely 18-year-old,” he said. “She had a blanket and it had room, so I went over and sat down and talked with her.”
He impressed Libby by borrowing a friend’s 1947 Plymouth and letting her believe he owned it. Then he spent $60 — almost an entire month’s veteran stipend — on dinner at Chicago’s legendary Palmer House. When he proposed, how could she possibly say no?
Libby may have thought she was marrying a high roller. Instead she has spent the last 46 years rooted to a modest tract home in a sleepy suburb that calls itself the San Fernando Valley’s “most neighborly town.”
And she’s content with that — even when it’s on lockdown.