Mayor Garcetti Says City To Provide Over 2,400 Hotel Rooms And 300 Trailers For At-Risk Homeless Angelenos

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti began his daily update by mourning 40 new deaths today in L.A., bringing the total lives lost in the city to 495, a 9% increase since yesterday. The mortality rate in L.A. County now stands at 4.3%. That's 43 times higher than the mortality rate of the seasonal flu (.1%), though as newer tests come online to get a better assessment of milder and asymptomatic cases, that rate is widely expected to change.

Garcetti strongly urged Angelenos to continue to stay at home this weekend.

"COVID-19 doesn't care how nice the weather is," he said.

THE NUMBERS

• L.A. now has 1,551 general emergency hospital beds available, and 1,119 available ventilators
• The city now has 30 testing sites, compared to 19 last week
• About 67,000 Angelenos have been tested, with a capacity to test 12,000 people a day. The mayor urged everyone with symptoms to get a free test.
• Only about 45% of Angelenos currently still have their jobs, according to the USC Dornsife Center for Economic and Social research. In March that number was 61%.

JOBS/HOUSING

• An L.A. jobs site is currently being updated daily, with available positions in critical businesses like grocery stores and food delivery companies. Visit lajobsportal.org for more info.
• The city is extending all housing department deadlines that are related to finding affordable and supportive housing.
• The mayor emphasized the city's response to helping the homeless population locally. L.A. is providing porta-potties, hand-washing stations and testing for the homeless, he said.
• The city will also be deploying on-the-street medical teams to provide rapid response to the homeless population. Those teams will help unhoused people find hotel rooms and/or shelters, he said.
• Tonight the city is launching its first trailer program, which will be used to house homeless Angelenos who are high-risk and asymptomatic (over 65 and/or have chronic medical conditions). The trailers were given to the city by the state. The goal is to provide 300 trailers city-wide.
• 2,400 hotel and motel rooms are now available for these asymptomatic, high-risk Angelenos. However, our reporting found that most of these rooms are still empty.
• For those who are already sick, the city is currently negotiating with over 24 additional hotels. FEMA is reimbursing the city for many of those rooms.
• The mayor urged hotel and motel owners to reach out to join the effort here.

MORE UPDATES

• The city is opening a medical relief center at the Los Angeles Convention Center. It will now serve patients and free up hospital beds. The center has an initial 175 beds for patients who do not have COVID-19. "We pray for these beds to go unused," the mayor said.
• Dr. Lydia Lam of L.A. County and USC Hospital will be the chief medical officer of the relief center at the convention center.
• Over 454,176 applications were submitted for "Angeleno Cards," no-fee debit cards that will provide direct financial assistance to "the hardest hit families in our city," Garcetti said.

This Sunday, the mayor will give his annual State of the City address.

"I want you to draw on the power that you have to not feel powerless or lonely at home, but to feel powerful as part of this city of angels," he said, before taking questions.

This post is being updated live so feel free to re-fresh or come back for the latest.

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