Orange County had 42 confirmed cases of the coronavirus on Wednesday up from 29 on Tuesday.
Orange County Health officer Dr. Nichole Quick said she anticipated that number would increase.
“The more we look for this, the more we’re likely to find, so increasing cases are not unexpected,” Quick said.
Orange County leaders held a news conference to clarify the health order issued Tuesday and calm local business owners who had expressed confusion about whether they were being forced to close.
“There has been confusion about the wording and meaning of yesterday’s public health order, but let me make it very clear — Orange County is not on lockdown and, except for businesses directed to close by the state, all businesses can remain open,” Orange County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Michelle Steel said.
After the release of Tuesday’s health order, many residents and members of the media thought officials were announcing a shelter-in-place order, which many Bay Area counties have implemented.
At Wednesday’s news conference, local leaders stressed that was not their intent and that there is no shelter-in-place order in the county. Rather, residents are asked to avoid large gatherings and practice social distancing and good hand hygiene, among other things.
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The City of Santa Monica closed the Santa Monica Pier in an attempt to prevent the further spread of the Coronavirus. Very few people were on the beach in Santa Monica as the epidemic continues. (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times)
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Volunteer Nagma Shakur, 16, left, hugs her “Grannie” as she helps senior shoppers with their carts at the Grocery Outlet Bargain Market in Altadena. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times)
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People walk up the ramp, exiting the secure area at the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
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David Barker, 56, is visiting with his friend living in a tent on skidrow in Los Angeles. Barker, who is not homeless, works in the area. (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times)
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Dr. Dallas Weaver, 79, and his wife, Janet Weaver, 75, of Huntington Beach, walk on the Huntington pier. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
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Seniors, including Eileen Oda Leaf, 67, left, and her husband Dave Leaf, 67, right, both wearing protective masks, line up outside Gelson’s Market in Manhattan Beach early on Wednesday, March 18, 2020. (Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
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Roberta Tabor, 66, of Hermosa Beach, has her ID checked by store director Dennis Sullivan at Gelson’s Market in Manhattan Beach on Wednesday. The store is doing a “seniors shopping hour” where seniors 65+ can go grocery shopping before anybody else. (Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
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Seniors shop at Gelson’s Market in Manhattan Beach on Wednesday. The store is doing a “seniors shopping hour” where seniors can go grocery shopping before the store opens to the general public. (Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
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Dr. Mark V. Morocco oversees testing at UCLA Medical Center where people can drive up and get tested if they have the symptoms. Morocco listens to a female patient’s lungs through the car window. (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times)
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HOPICS outreach worker Ralph Gomez tosses a clipboard for a signature to homeless client Davis Soto, right, taking care to stay at least six feet away during outreach in Los Angeles. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
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Medical personnel screen patients outside the emergency room at Loma Linda University Health during the coronavirus pandemic. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
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A nurse takes the vital signs of a woman in a medical tent outside the hospital on Catalina. (Francine Orr/Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times)
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An employee of the Trader Joe’s store in Monrovia tells customers waiting in line that it would open doors to everyone at 9 a.m., not just seniors, who arrived believing doors would open earlier to older residents, as some of the people were told by employees and it was reported. Some grocery outlets were offering special morning hours of shopping to accommodate older residents. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times)
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Kevin Ezeh, protected with face mask and gloves, addresses the Los Angeles City Council meeting standing under a tent erected outside City Hall. A television livestreamed video of the meeting and the public offered comments remotely. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
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Orange County Undersheriff Bob Peterson listens during a board of supervisors discussion on combating the coronavirus in Santa Ana. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
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Dr. Mark V. Morocco oversees the testing at UCLA Medical Center. Testing for Covid-19 is going on at UCLA Medical Center, where people can drive up and get tested if they have the symptoms. (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times)
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A large tent is installed for public attendance at Tuesday’s Los Angeles City Council meeting. The public was not allowed in the council chamber. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
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Shoppers queue up ahead of the Los Feliz Costco opening for business on Tuesday, March 17, 2020 in Los Angeles. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
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Muhammad Faruq, an Uber driver, picks his ride Sotero Reyes, left, and Cristian Eguia, visitors from Houston, all in protective masks, from downtown Los Angeles. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
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Volunteer Rachel Figueroa, serves a free lunch to go to Destiny Mendez, with her mother, Estefany, at the Dream Center in Los Angeles. LAUSD students can get free breakfast, lunch and dinner at the Dream Center, Monday through Friday. (Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)
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Emma Bradley, left, and her husband, Samuel Bradley, of Palmdale are walking up the ramp to catch the Metrolink in Union Sation in Los Angeles. (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times)
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Medical personnel surround a car that is going through a coronavirus drive-thru test clinic at the San Mateo County Event Center. Drive-thru test clinics for COVID-19 are popping up across the country as more tests become available. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
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From left, Josh Akamine, of Oahu, Hawaii; Madison Shine of Oahu; Matthew Valencia of Los Altos and Dani Ikeda visit L.A. Live in downtown Los Angeles. (Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)
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Normally bustling Grand Central Market in downtown L.A. is open only for take out. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
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L.A. has banned restaurants from offering seating at places such as Grand Central Market. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
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Carlos Perez, a worker at Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill at L.A. Live in downtown Los Angeles sits in the empty restaurant. (Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)
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A line at the Martin B. Retting gun store in Culver City on Sunday extends out the door and around the corner in 2020. (Francine Orr / The Times)
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A guest wears a mask in front of the Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland on Thursday. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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Students hug as they are let out of school at Hamilton High School in Los Angeles, Calif., on March 13, 2020. The school has 2,623 students who live in 94 different zip codes, some of whom travel upwards of 30 miles to school on 24 different school bus routes. 221 school staff live in 88 zip codes. Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Austin Beutner announced that schools will be closed due to the coronavirus. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) (Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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Blake Anderson, left, a freshman, walks with his father Oree Anderson, as school is let out at Hamilton High School in Los Angeles. LAUSD announced that schools will be closed due to the Coronavirus. (Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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Students leave John C. Fremont High School in Los Angeles at the end of the school day on Friday, Mar. 13, 2020. LAUSD announced it will shut down beginning Monday. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times )
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Alexandria Casserly crosses the street while looking for toilet paper in downtown Los Angeles. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times)
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A crew member stands on the stern of a cruise ship docked at the Port of Los Angeles. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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Two children look at movie posters in the lobby of the Arclight theater Thursday in Manhattan Beach. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
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Disneyland guests wearing ponchos pass the Marketplace inside Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge on Thursday. Disneyland and California Adventure will temporarily close in response to the coronavirus pandemic. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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People shop at the Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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Disneyland guests take photos in front of the Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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Airline workers take precautions at Tom Bradley International Terminal in Los Angeles on Thursday. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
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An airport worker cleans a railing at Tom Bradley International Terminal. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
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Two people arrive at Knott’s Berry Farm on Thursday in Buena Park. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Cab drivers wait for riders at the Long Beach Airport. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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The Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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A woman claims her luggage at he Long Beach Airport. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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The Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
Local leaders repeatedly stressed that Orange County was business friendly and that the sheriff had no intention of sending out deputies to patrol the streets looking to jail merchants.
The hope, officials said, is that local businesses that must close under the county order — all bars that don’t serve food, movie theaters, gyms and health clubs — will voluntarily follow the order. Restaurants, food trucks and farmers markets must only offer food through delivery, pickup or drive-through while also practicing the recommended six-foot space for social distancing.
“The most important point to make, I think, is that Orange County is not shut down for business. We are asking for all of our citizens to be responsible in how you’re interacting out in the community,” Supervisor Donald Wagner said.
Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes said of all the days to announce bars were closed, St. Patrick’s Day was a good test to see how businesses and patrons would react.
Barnes said deputies did find some bars still operating, but they were able to resolve each incident without issue.
“I think even the patrons there, as much as they wanted to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, realized this was much bigger than one day a year,” Barnes said.
Fire Chief Brian Fennessy said in response to the pandemic, firefighters and paramedics going on calls to help someone thought to possibly have the coronavirus are being supplied with protective gear. Additionally, the agency has been better able to protect personnel because dispatchers are asking callers more questions about COVID-19 and supplying that information to first responders.
While on duty, 20 firefighters have been exposed to someone thought to possibly have COVID-19, but thus far, only one Orange County firefighter has been exposed to a person with a confirmed case. That firefighter is self-isolating at a hotel, he said.
The order was already changing life in Orange County.
In Huntington Beach, Sandy Lopez cut a lonely figure along the boardwalk, where on Wednesday, before cooking dinner with family members at home in Santa Ana, she sneaked out, escaping to the ocean for a long-awaited walk.
“I need space to think, you know. The world is racing by, and I’m confused with so many people saying do this, do that, don’t do this or that,” said the office clerk, whose hours had been reduced at a real estate business. “Information is changing every day, and I want to be by myself to think through it. First, we heard that Orange County has a curfew. But I found out I misheard that, but there could be a curfew — maybe, next week. Who can predict? I don’t know where it’s safe to go, so I thought, let’s just go to the beach.”
Lopez, 29, stood yards away from the famed Surf City Pier, about to snap some selfies to share with East Coast friends. “They’re stuck, too, but at least I have access to the water,” she said.
Lopez lives with her parents and a younger sibling. While her mother and diabetic father must remain indoors under medical advice, she and her sister plan to take turns standing in line weekly for groceries. They are eating more soup, less fried food and trying to stay away from too many sweets — all for the sake of their health.
She isn’t a cook but has started to watch the Food Channel to find tips and inspiration for quick meals. Her mom usually takes care of kitchen stuff, she said, adding: “I am so used to just driving a few blocks to the taqueria to grab some snacks — but again, I don’t know where it’s safe.”
