Dear Residents,

The City of Rancho Palos Verdes continues to monitor the spread of the novel coronavirus in Los Angeles County and would like to share the following updates with the community:

The Latest

We’re Here

Although City Hall is closed for the weekend, the City Council and City staff are monitoring communications from various government agencies and the public and will continue to share information with residents. A webpage with coronavirus updates, resources and information on local closures is continuously being updated at rpvca.gov/coronavirus

Stay connected and get updates from the City by subscribing to the Breaking News listserv at rpvca.gov/notify

COVID-19 Community Updates are distributed Monday through Friday, though any major announcements over the weekend will be shared with the community.

Be sure to also follow the City on Nextdoor, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

PVPUSD School Reopening Town Hall July 1

The Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District Board of Education invites the community to a virtual Town Hall Meeting for School Reopening Planning  July 1 from 7-9 p.m. The meeting will be moderated by School Board President Suzanne Seymour. Panel participants will include:

• School board members
• Superintendent Dr. Alex Cherniss
• District staff
• Abi Fletcher MD, Program Director, Long Beach Memorial Family Medicine Residency
• Clayton Kazan MD, Medical Director, L.A. County Fire Department and former COVID-19 Testing Coordinator for L.A. County

This event will be live-streamed and the public will have an opportunity to submit questions by joining the Zoom video conference, via an online form or email.

For information on how to view the meeting and submit questions, visit pvpusd.net/townhall/

The Great Peninsula Movie Night June 27

Enjoy the old-fashioned experience of watching a movie from your car, while waving to your friends across the parking lot!

The Palos Verdes Peninsula Chamber of Commerce will host a drive-in screening of the 2016 hit “La La Land” this Saturday, June 27 at 8 p.m. on the top level of the Promenade on the Peninsula parking lot in Rolling Hills Estates.

Starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, “La La Land” is rated PG-13 and has been called “a movie about loving movies,” filled with music, dancing, and iconic sets. This event is a fundraiser for the Chamber’s Young Entrepreneurs Academy a program to help local middle and high school students launch new businesses.

• Admission is $25 per car (suggested donation)
• Gate opens at 7 p.m.
• Movie starts at 8 p.m.
• Enter off Indian Peak Road
• Takeout food options available

Registration can be made online at https://palosverdespeninsula.chambermaster.com/eventregistration/register/14747 or at the gate.

If you have questions, please contact the PVP Chamber at 310-377-8111.

Fake “Face Mask Exempt” Cards

Images and flyers are circulating online and in Los Angeles County of a "Face Mask Exempt" card. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health advises that these flyers and cards are NOT from a government agency and are not endorsed by the Department of Justice or any Los Angeles County department. Cloth face coverings MUST be worn anytime residents are around others not from their household, except by children under 2 and individuals with medical conditions that prevent use of a face covering.

CDC Expands List of People at Risk of Severe COVID-19 Illness

Based on a detailed review of available evidence to date, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has updated and expanded the list of who is at increased risk for getting severely ill from COVID-19.

Older adults and people with underlying medical conditions remain at increased risk for severe illness, but now CDC has further defined age- and condition-related risks.
As more information becomes available, it is clear that a substantial number of Americans are at increased risk of severe illness – highlighting the importance of continuing to follow preventive measures.

COVID-19 risk related to age

CDC has removed the specific age threshold from the older adult classification. CDC now warns that among adults, risk increases steadily as you age, and it’s not just those over the age of 65 who are at increased risk for severe illness.

Recent data, including an MMWR published last week, has shown that the older people are, the higher their risk of severe illness from COVID-19. Age is an independent risk factor for severe illness, but risk in older adults is also in part related to the increased likelihood that older adults also have underlying medical conditions.

COVID-19 risk related to underlying medical conditions

CDC also updated the list of underlying medical conditions that increase risk of severe illness after reviewing published reports, pre-print studies, and various other data sources. CDC experts then determined if there was clear, mixed, or limited evidence that the condition increased a person’s risk for severe illness, regardless of age.

There was consistent evidence (from multiple small studies or a strong association from a large study) that specific conditions increase a person’s risk of severe COVID-19 illness:

• Chronic kidney disease

• COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)

• Obesity (BMI of 30 or higher)

• Immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) from solid organ transplant

• Serious heart conditions, such as heart failure, coronary artery disease, or cardiomyopathies

• Sickle cell disease

• Type 2 diabetes

These changes increase the number of people who fall into higher risk groups. An estimated 60 percent of American adults have at least one chronic medical condition. Obesity is one of the most common underlying conditions that increases one’s risk for severe illness – with about 40 percent of U.S. adults having obesity. The more underlying medical conditions people have, the higher their risk.

CDC also clarified the list of other conditions that might increase a person’s risk of severe illness, including additions such as asthma, high blood pressure, neurologic conditions such as dementia, cerebrovascular disease such as stroke, and pregnancy. An MMWR published Thursday further adds to the growing body of research on risk by comparing data on pregnant and nonpregnant women with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Pregnant women were significantly more likely to be hospitalized, admitted to the intensive care unit, and receive mechanical ventilation than nonpregnant women; however, pregnant women were not at greater risk for death from COVID-19.

Protecting yourself, your family, and your community

Every activity that involves contact with others has some degree of risk right now. Knowing if you are at increased risk for severe illness and understanding the risks associated with different activities of daily living can help you make informed decisions about which activities to resume and what level of risk you will accept. This information is especially critical as communities begin to reopen.

Everyone should continue to do their part to implement prevention strategies, such as focusing on activities where social distancing can be maintained, washing your hands frequently, limiting contact with and disinfecting commonly touched surfaces or shared items, and wearing a cloth face covering when you are around people you do not live with, especially when it is difficult to stay 6 feet apart or when people are indoors. By taking these steps, you can help protect yourself, your loved ones, and others around you, including those most vulnerable to severe illness.

CDC will continue to update and share information about risk for severe illness as more information becomes available. For more information on how to prevent getting sick with COVID-19, visit CDC’s website at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/index.html.

L.A. County COVID-19 Business Response Survey

Cases

As of June 26, there are 93,232 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across Los Angeles County (population 10.17 million), including the South Bay, so the public should not think one location is safer than another and everyone should be aware and practice physical distancing. The total includes 126 cases in Rancho Palos Verdes (population 41,731), 49 in Palos Verdes Estates (population 13,190), 22 in Rolling Hills Estates (population 8,066) and two in Rolling Hills (population 1,874). Countywide, 3,267 people have died.

According to the Department of Public Health, 12 deaths have been reported in Rancho Palos Verdes. The City extends its deepest condolences to the families of these residents.

For a list of cases broken down by city, demographic characteristics, and settings, visit: http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus/locations.htm

For an interactive dashboard with maps and graphs showing testing, cases and death data by community, poverty level, age, sex and race/ethnicity visit: http://dashboard.publichealth.lacounty.gov/covid19_surveillance_dashboard/

An interactive dashboard of COVID-19 cases in the South Bay maintained by the City of Torrance is available at bit.ly/2XB1fv1. The dashboard reflects information sourced by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

Los Angeles County Department of Public Health: publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus
California Department of Public Health: cdph.ca.gov/covid19 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): cdc.gov/COVID19
World Health Organization: who.int/coronavirus
California Governor’s Office: covid19.ca.gov
County of Los Angeles: lacounty.gov/covid19
L.A. County residents can also call 2-1-1
FEMA Coronavirus Rumor Control: https://www.fema.gov/Coronavirus-Rumor-Control
 
Sign up for “Notify Me” city listervs at rpvca.gov/notify

Be sure to also follow the City on Nextdoor, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. 
 
Sign up for emergency alerts from Alert SouthBay by:

• Texting “alertsb” to 888-777, which returns a link to register for Everbridge (for COVID-19-related alerts, text the keyword "cv19rpv")
• Registering online at alertsouthbay.com
• Downloading the free Everbridge app on an iOS or Android device from the App Store or Google Play. Select “Find an organization or subscription” and search “alertsb”

Sign up for emergency alerts from Alert LA County at https://lacounty.gov/emergency/alert-la/