Manhattan Beach closes outdoor dining as COVID-19 cases surge
Outdoor dining in downtown Manhattan Beach was put on hold last week following a record number of new COVID-19 cases. Photo The City of Manhattan Beach on Sunday closed the outdoor dining decks it had taken over from restaurants in early December as a way to help the struggling local dining industry evade Los Angeles County health order restrictions and attract some semblance of business. The closure was announced late Saturday night after the city experienced 47 COVID-19 cases in the previous 48 hours, its highest two day total since the pandemic arrived. Those new cases brought the total to 821 on January 2, a near doubling of cases since November 1. In a statement announcing the outdoor seating closure, the City referenced both the spike in cases and concerns over the presence of a new, potentially more contagious variant of novel coronavirus that LA County health officials have identified. “We must continue to respond to the ever-changing dynamics of this pandemic,” said Mayor Suzanne Hadley in the statement. “We are asking residents to stay home if possible, and mainly go out for work and essentials, or to exercise outdoors. This recent spike in the virus is significant…
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