Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti closed farmers markets in the city Monday for fear of coronavirus transmission — while continuing to move thousands of homeless people into temporary shelters where transmission is more likely.
Garcetti reacted, according to Fox News, after Katherine Schwarzenegger, daughter of the former California governor, tweeted her concern that a farmers market in Brentwood, an upscale neighborhood, was open Sunday.
The farmers markets in Brentwood still being open seems like a huge issue when it comes to social gatherings 🙏 https://t.co/j7lMGtdVlf
— Katherine Schwarzenegger (@KSchwarzenegger) March 29, 2020
However, it is not clear that farmers markets are any more dangerous than ordinary grocery stores — and they may actually be safer.
As Breitbart News recently reported, a paper published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed that indoor transmission was nearly 20 times more likely than outdoor transmission.
With adequate “social distancing” to prevent crowding, farmers markets can operate safely, as others noted:
Listen. Not everyone in Los Angeles or the surrounding areas can get certain items at the grocery stores. Or get FRESH produce! The farmers markets are doing a great job making sure people keep their distance. Echo Park did it this past Friday I was able to get eggs! Finally! pic.twitter.com/CzpXM3p7iR
— PJ 🏳️🌈 (@petrinajc) March 30, 2020
Authorities are releasing prisoners, and activists are demanding the release of detained illegal aliens, because of the risk of coronavirus transmission indoors. Yet Garcetti is persisting in moving the homeless into recreation centers in residential areas — against CDC guidelines that warn against doing so.
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Ben Carson told Breitbart News Daily on Tuesday that the coronavirus pandemic presented an opportunity to solve the problem of homelessness. However, he said, building outdoor tent cities for the homeless on federal or state land, where they could receive medical attention and other services, would be preferable.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He earned an A.B. in Social Studies and Environmental Science and Public Policy from Harvard College, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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