L.A. County Shutdown Ruling

I saw this article in the Los Angeles Times:

A judge has limited Los Angeles County’s outdoor dining ban to three weeks, even as a state order will keep the restrictions in place past Christmas, according to a ruling issued Tuesday.

At a court hearing, the latest to address a pair of challenges to the ban, L.A. County Superior Court Judge James Chalfant said county public health officials must conduct a risk-benefit analysis if they want to extend the ban past its current end date, Dec. 16.

“The county should be prevented from continuing the restaurant closure order indefinitely.” Chalfant said in the decision.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-08/la-covid-19-outdoor-dining-ban-limited-state-order-remains

So the judge ruled that the county health officials made the decision to shut down outdoor dining cannot last forever, and asked them to provide a cost-benefit analysis on the closure. I guess he had the same questions I did regarding the scientific basis behind the shut down. Supposedly only 5-10% of the recent COVID cases can be traced back to a restaurant. Where are the majority of the new cases coming from?

All this is moot since the county order was superseded by a state closure level, and the judge’s ruling only applies to LA County. However, it’s good to see someone else asking for scientific proof before making policy decisions that affect millions of people.