City News Service

In the face of steadily increasing COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations, Los Angeles County residents will again be required to wear masks indoors starting Saturday night.

The Los Angeles City Council voted 13-2 yesterday to tentatively approve an ordinance to restrict sleeping and homeless encampments in certain areas of the city.

The board, which is chaired by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, seeks to make the transit system more effective by ensuring that the surrounding land includes housing, jobs, schools and amenities.

Beginning Monday, St. Joseph Center outreach teams are scheduled to offer housing, shelter and services to the approximately 200 people who live in boardwalk encampments, which have grown amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

As COVID-19 cases drop, those who caught the virus are still being advised to get vaccinated.

The variant is blamed for rampant infections ravaging India and select other areas worldwide.

A celebratory atmosphere was felt in the Southland as businesses in Los Angeles County and across the state returned to mostly normal operations today with the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions.

The definition was expanded to include a wider range of harassment tactics. Under the draft ordinance, if harassment occurs, a tenant who prevails in court may be awarded compensation for damages, rent refunds for reduction in housing services, reasonable compensation for attorney's fees and more.

While the bulk of COVID-19 restrictions will be lifted on June 15, Los Angeles County's public health director warned that rules requiring masking and physical distancing will remain in place in some settings.

Many believed the amendment was "a clear attempt to hobble this bill" and make journalists' jobs more difficult.