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Backlash Against More Covid-19 Restrictions Growing As Pandemic Fatigue Rises

On the eve of yet another Los Angeles curtailment of public assemblies and mandatory business rules related to the Covid-19 pandemic, a growing number of people are questioning, and in some cases defying, the orders.

An increasingly restive group of business and religious leaders are leading the charge. But citizens are also protesting the curfew imposed by government, as recently seen in Orange County.

The new government measures will kick in on Monday in Los Angeles County for three weeks. Even though the latest order has less restrictions in it than the original March mandates to curtail activities, the ensuing months of confinement have people questioning whether these new measures are needed.

Around the world, similar protests are being staged, as angry businesses and citizens wonder why a virus with a 95 percent or greater survival rate is grounds for such extreme measures.

A group of Chambers of Commerce leaders and restaurant owners in West Hollywood demanded Wednesday that L.A. County show them the data that supports the decision to eliminate outdoor dining until Dec. 20. The group wants the county to overturn the outdoor dining ban and allow them to keep a vital part of their survival.

The Long Beach Restaurant Association also chimed in with a similar question about the county bans.

“There has been no data submitted in our knowledge to any regulatory body that suggests that people are at an increased risk of Covid spread by outdoor dining,” said Alex Cherin of the Long Beach Restaurant Association. The association will send a formal letter asking for a reversal of the decision.

Four Pasadena restaurants had their health permits suspended Friday evening because the city claims they ignored warnings to adhere to the city’s Covid-19 safety protocols.

The restaurants must completely close their kitchens, schedule a hearing, and then have an inspection before they can reopen to any type of dining, including takeout and delivery, said Pasadena Public Information Officer Lisa Derderian.

Elsewhere, defiant community leaders are ignoring government orders.

Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum, the spiritual leader of the Satmar sect in upstate Kiryas Joel, New York, insisted his community’s schools remain open despite orders to close.

“We won’t surrender. We won’t close down. And indeed, we didn’t close down, neither the boys’ schools, nor the girls’ schools, nor the yeshivas. Neither the large ones nor the small ones. Everything proceeded as usual,” Teitelbaum said in a speech that was posted in Yiddish on flyers in Borough Park, Brooklyn.

The largest merchants’ group in Brooklyn, NY has urged Gov. Andrew Cuomo Friday to avoid imposing drastic citywide restrictions to tame a second wave of Covid-19 — saying such a clampdown will put teetering firms out of business.

“On the eve of Small Business Saturday when we are encouraging New Yorkers to shop local and support neighborhood businesses, we’re calling on Mayor de Blasio and Governor Cuomo to reexamine a citywide shutdown,” said Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Randy Peers, who represents 62,000 borough firms.

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