Manhattan Beach closes outdoor public seating areas

By Kelly Fraenkel

Staff Writer

Manhattan Beach closed outdoor seating areas on public property on Jan. 3 due to an increase of COVID-19 cases across the city.

On Jan. 2, Manhattan Beach had 821 confirmed COVID-19 cases, almost double the amount from Nov. 1. The daily number of new cases reached a new record high of 26 on Jan. 1. In response to this, as well as the mutant strain of COVID-19 in California thought to be highly contagious, the City Council’s COVID-19 Long Term Business Solutions subcommittee decided to close all outdoor public seating.

“I think it’s good that they closed outdoor eating areas because it’ll have more people ordering take out and delivery,” senior Grace Householter said.