Restaurants in Los Angeles that provide takeout meals are now able to apply for signage to establish nearby loading zones in an effort to help them speed up services, Mayor Eric Garcetti said Thursday.
The Los Angeles Department of Transportation began a program providing the signage to businesses it approves to establish loading zones at no charge.
“With restaurants now exclusively serving takeout and delivery, that shift means that we need fewer parking spots and more loading zones,” Garcetti said during his daily coronavirus briefing.
“I know that the lack of parking was chasing some customers away, and for workers who are doing the pickups and deliveries, it is critical to make sure they are safe and they have a place (to park) close by.”
Restaurants must apply for the signage at ladot.lacity.org/pickupzone, and if approved, the signage will be installed within two days, according to the LADOT.
LADOT officials said the signs will designate a single parking spot where customers may park while picking up food from a nearby business, and motorists will not be allowed to use the spot for longer than 10 minutes.
Garcetti said he would announce protective measures in the “coming days” for grocery workers and other people working for businesses that have been deemed essential.
The number of Los Angeles residents testing positive for the coronavirus increased by 207 to 1,787, according to Barbara Ferrer, head of the county Department of Public Health. There are 4,059 cases in Los Angeles County, Ferrer said.
Thirteen deaths caused by the coronavirus in Los Angeles County were reported Thursday, increasing the total to 78.
The Los Angeles Fire Department conducted more than 2,100 coronavirus tests Thursday and has now tested 14,400 people. Another 23,000 people have been tested under the auspices of the county government, Garcetti said.
The number of ventilators in Los Angeles County has risen to 1,050, according to Garcetti. There are 1,664 hospital beds in Los Angeles County available for coronavirus patients, which Garcetti said was “still insufficient,” but is an increase.
Garcetti was joined at his briefing by Ferrer who said medical-grade masks are needed are to protect the health care providers and the public should not seek to buy them.
The homemade masks people are recommended to wear in public are intended to keep other people protected from possible carriers of the virus, as many people who are infected do not show symptoms, Ferrer said.
“I beg you, don’t go looking for an N95 (medical) mask,” she said. “I definitely know that everything we’re doing is going to have an impact, and I’m hopeful, as all of us should be, that we’re taking every step possible to flatten the curve, slow the spread.”