Los Angeles County supervisor couldn't produce COVID-19 studies to back up outdoor dining ban
Los Angles County’s ban on outdoor dining took effect on the eve of Thanksgiving.
The Los Angeles County Supervisor Kuehl busted for dining out just hours after voting to ban outdoor dining was reportedly unable to provide studies to back up the ban.
Bill Melugin, a reporter of Fox News affiliate KTTV, said Kuehl’s office provided him with “six studies,” which she said claimed to show evidence of outdoor dining risk amid the coronavirus pandemic.
However, none of these supposed studies appear in the “County evidence” section to support the ban on outdoor dining, he said.
“Actually, it says studies show [COVID-19] is less likely to spread outdoors,” Melugin tweeted on Tuesday.
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
Fox News has reached out independently to Kuehl’s office but did not hear back before publication.
Los Angles County’s ban on outdoor dining took effect on the eve of Thanksgiving just one day after the county’s public health department admitted during a Board of Supervisor’s meeting that there is no hard scientific evidence linking the recent surge in COVID-19 cases to back up the move.
FILE: Then-state Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, speaks on the floor of the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif. Now a Los Angeles County supervisor, Kuehl enjoyed an al fresco meal at a restaurant just hours after voting to ban outdoor dining at restaur (AP)
In laying out its case, a department health official cited a generic study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But the study did not distinguish between indoor and outdoor dining and was conducted throughout the United States rather than within the specific community.
NEW JERSEY GYM OWNER TAKES CORONAVIRUS SHUTDOWN REVOLT NATIONAL WITH BUSINESS DIRECTORY
Just hours after voting on the ban, Kuehl visited Il Forno Trattoria, an Italian restaurant near her house. She had referred to outside dining as “a most dangerous situation” during the Los Angles County Board of Supervisors meeting.
Days later when asked by a local reporter about her apparent double standard, Kuehl reportedly said that her getting caught was a “nonstory.”