From the start of the COVID-19 crisis, I have made it clear that I would always level with the people of this city, speak honestly about where we are, and tell you what we’re doing to fight the virus and what you can expect in the days and weeks ahead.

As we continue to face this unprecedented public health challenge, that commitment remains the same. So here’s the bottom line: COVID-19 is not going away anytime soon. It will be with us –– and remain a threat –– for the foreseeable future.

Right now, our COVID-19 threat level is at orange. This means the virus is a danger to all of us and continues to spread throughout the community. In order to stay safe, we need to continue wearing masks, avoid gatherings, wash our hands frequently, and keep physical distance from others.

At this stage, we are carefully monitoring each day's public health data. But we are not yet closing any additional activities or businesses.

Here’s why: over the last few weeks, we have made significant changes in Los Angeles. The Governor announced new closures. Bars, indoor dining and worship services, gyms and fitness centers, museums, and more have been temporarily closed. Angelenos have renewed their vigilance and worked to limit gatherings.

It takes about three weeks to see whether our actions have lowered our disease transmission rate, hospitalizations, and deaths.

We know how to turn things around because we have done it before. And what happens next –– whether we continue to see high rates of infection and illness, or get the virus under control –– is up to us.

Wearing a mask is particularly important and will help to keep our community safe and reopen our economy. To encourage Angelenos to wear masks, we teamed up with Studio Number One to launch the L.A. Mask Print Project to develop posters for you to put up in your home or your shop window and encourage mask use. You can download and print the posters for free.

Saving lives, reviving our economy, and getting off the state’s COVID-19 watchlist requires all of us to work together.

Our businesses must continue to follow required protocols meant to keep employers, employees, and customers healthy and safe.

And we can continue to support our businesses and workers through the L.A. Regional COVID Recovery Fund, a partnership with the County to provide $13 million in grants to many micro-entrepreneurs, small businesses, and nonprofits who were cut out of the federal paycheck protection program.

We are supporting tenants and landlords with our Rental Assistance Subsidy program –– at $103 million, the largest initiative of its kind in the nation –– in addition to establishing other renter programs and protections.

People across Los Angeles are tapping into these lifelines –– but there is only so much we can do at the local level to help our neighbors. We need the federal government to be a stronger partner in addressing the health and economic devastation of this pandemic.

This week, I sent a letter to the L.A. Congressional delegation outlining what our city needs in the next Coronavirus relief package: funding to keep our essential public servants on the job, more resources for testing, direct payments to Angelenos, and an extension of the Paycheck Protection Program and $600 bonus for unemployment insurance.

We need Congress to act –– and we need it to happen now.

This has been a season of pain and uncertainty in Los Angeles. We are fragile, and we all want this crisis to end.

But there is good news: We learn more about how to defeat this virus every day. We know how to reduce our infection rate and flatten our curve. We know that every one of us can take meaningful action in our daily lives.

If we are divided –– each only doing the things that makes us comfortable –– the virus will thrive. But if we make shared sacrifices, we will be on the path to a safer and healthier reality.

I know we can do that –– together.

Thank you for everything you are doing for our city.

Strength and love,

Eric Garcetti
Your Mayor