Pasadena Issues Health Order Shutting Down Indoor Businesses and Activities – Including Protests

Street protests, which have become a regular occurrence in Pasadena since late May, are still allowed under the latest revised amendment to the City’s Covid-19 “Safer at Home” orders issued by Pasadena Public Health Director Dr. Ying Ying Goh. But indoor protests are not.

Goh issued the revised amendment Tuesday in response to changes ordered by the California Department of Public Health.

Since Pasadena has its own health department, all CDPH state orders are interpreted and then re-issued as local orders, according to which conditions apply.

A key section in the latest Pasadena Health Department revision reads as follows:

“Effective at 12:01 AM on July 14, 2020, and continuing until further notice, the Health Officer… hereby orders all persons to comply with this Order as follows: As prescribed by the CDPH on July 13, 2020, the following industries or activities must cease, unless they are modified to operate outside or by pick-up:

Fitness centers
Worship services
Protests
Offices for non-essential sectors
Personal care services, such as nail salons, body waxing and tattoo parlors
Hair salons and barbershops
Malls”

At a press conference Tuesday, Governor Gavin Newsom was asked whether the orders included all types of protests.

Newsom said, “We have a framework around protests,” saying that the new restrictions would prohibit indoor, but not outdoor, protest gatherings.

Pasadena’s order states, in part, “This Order’s intent is to continue to ensure that City residents remain in their residences as much as practicable, to limit close contact with others outside their households in both indoor and outdoor spaces.

Read the new revised order in full by clicking here

“All persons who can telework or work from home should continue to do so as much as possible during this pandemic,” the order continued. “Nothing in this Order prohibits members of a single household from engaging in activities together, but gatherings of people who are not part of a single household or living unit are prohibited within the City of Pasadena Public Health Jurisdiction, except for the limited purposes expressly permitted by this Order.”

The order continued to stress the importance of physical distancing and cleanliness, saying, “People leaving their residences as permitted by this Order must strictly comply with physical distancing measures, including maintaining six feet or more of distance between individuals from different households, frequently washing hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or using hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol, and wearing a cloth face covering over the nose and mouth whenever there is or can be contact with others who are non-household members in both public and private places, whether indoors or outdoors, for the purposes of source control.”

Violation of the Order is a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment, fine or both under California Health and Safety Code Section 120295. The Revised Order will be enforced by the City of Pasadena Police Department, City Attorney/City Prosecutor’s Office, and/or any other agency designated by the Pasadena City Manager for enforcement.