City Continues Strong COVID-19 Enforcement

Three restaurants that were closed last week as part of the city’s COVID-19 enforcement efforts were allowed to reopen Saturday night. 

However, two more restaurants were closed on Saturday, bringing the total of closures to five.

Although the city has declined to name any of the restaurants involved, they will be listed on the city’s website this week as part of a Pasadena Health Department update. 

“Last night [Saturday] inspectors were able to finish the reinspections of all the original locations from Wednesday’s and Thursday’s visits and to conduct first visits at restaurants in Old Town [Green Street, Colorado Boulevard, Union Street, One Colorado, Raymond Avenue], at and around the Paseo, on South Arroyo, and on South Lake. The most common violations were no face shields, dining tables not distanced, and protocols not completed,” said Public Information Officer Lisa Derderian. 

Approximately 50 percent of city restaurants inspected were found to be compliant during the initial visit.

“We want to keep restaurants operating, but that hinges on their willingness to follow the rules,” Derderian said.

Enforcement teams will be out again today in parks and other areas of potential public gatherings.

According to Derderian, the restaurants had to completely close their kitchens, schedule a hearing and then have an inspection before they could reopen to any type of dining, including takeout and delivery, Derderian said Friday.

The restaurants that were closed “received several clear warnings” before they were shut down. 

Last week, the city said it would ramp up its enforcement to lower the rising coronavirus case rate.

California’s seven-day average for new COVID cases increased by nearly 80 percent over the past two weeks. The numbers don’t include the Thanksgiving holiday, which has many health officials worried that large gatherings increased infections.

As of Sunday, the state’s positivity rate was above 6.2 percent. The rate has doubled since the end of October. The seven-day average of fatalities reached 65 on Friday compared to 40 two weeks ago. Hospitalizations have also increased. 

In response to the growing crisis, Los Angeles County public health officials shut down in-person dining Wednesday night. The city, which has its own Health Department, opted to not follow suit, but instead focus on enforcement.

Last week, Pasadena Health Officer Dr. Ying-Ying Goh warned the city would roll out a “broad, aggressive enforcement strategy” that had become “an immediate necessity given the rate of increase in COVID-19 cases and potential strain on our healthcare resources.”

On Tuesday, City Manager Steve Mermell said special attention would be invested in locating restaurants that did not comply with Pasadena’s health orders.

“Most restaurants operate in compliance with the rules, and those few who openly flaunt them and create a breeding ground for the transmission of the virus stand to ruin the possibility of outdoor dining for all,” Mermell said in a prepared statement. 

“We intend to identify them and to either bring them into compliance or to cite them or, in the last resort, to close them for the good of all and so that others can continue to operate,” Mermell said.