Los Angeles re-opens indoor church services as Covid hammers hospitals

Move puts LA County in line with recent Supreme Court decisions, but at odds with California’s raging pandemic

Los Angeles has revised its public health orders to allow for indoor worship services, even as coronavirus continues to hammer the county and hospitals begin making emergency plans for rationing care.

The decision was taken to align with recent Supreme Court decisions.

Los Angeles County announced the move on Saturday, revising previous guidance in a moves that allows for indoor services with masks on and social distancing rules observed, but warned the change wasn’t because the pandemic was getting any better.

“LA County is experiencing the fastest acceleration of new cases than at any other time during the pandemic,” county public health officials said in a statement. “Hospital capacity across the county is limited, and healthcare workers are hard-pressed to keep up with the need for care.”

The change was in response to a series of decisions by the US Supreme Court, which upheld religious groups challenging coronavirus shutdown orders on First Amendment grounds, including a December ruling regarding a group of churches and ministries from the LA town of Pasadena.

Harvest Rock Church, one of the LA organisations that challenged governor Gavin Newsom’s shutdown orders, celebrated the change on its Facebook on Sunday, writing, “GOOD NEWS!! LA County lifts the ban on indoor worship. Family, thank you for standing with us this year, through everything! Thank you for your words of encouragement, support and for your prayers. 2020 was not wasted!"

Still, even in the dry public health memo formalising the change, the county warned against holding indoor services.

“It is strongly recommended that Places of Worship continue to facilitate outdoor or remote services and other related activities for all attendees, especially those who are vulnerable to Covid-19 including older adults and those with co-morbidities, given the increased risk of community transmission of Covid-19 resulting from the unprecedented surge of new daily cases, hospitalisations, and premature deaths,” the memo reads.

LA County, one of the nation’s largest, is in the midst of a full-blown Covid crisis, having confirmed more than 100,000 new cases since December 11, according to county officials. County hospitals are so overwhelmed they’ve discussed emergency plans to ration care, reflecting California’s broader crisis. A state model predicts California could have 75,000 Covid patients by mid-January, doubling the state’s previous peak over the summer, and ICU capacity neared zero over the weekend.

“The worst is yet to come,” Dr. Christina Ghaly, Los Angeles County’s health services director, told the Associated Press.