Washington—Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today released the following statement after a call with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti to discuss the coronavirus pandemic:

            “Today I spoke with Mayor Garcetti on how Los Angeles is handling the coronavirus pandemic and thanked him for his strong leadership. 

            “Los Angeles is leading on the measures health experts agree are necessary to safely reopen: testing and contact tracing. The city is the first in the nation to be able to offer testing to any resident who wants one, and the city is supporting county authorities who are standing up a contact tracing team to determine who may have been infected.

            “Early, strict social distancing measures also seem to have helped, including first-in-the-nation stay-at-home and face-covering orders. As bad as the city and county have been hit, the situation would be far worse without these early interventions. These measures need to stay in place; it would be a disaster to relax controls too soon.

            “Many challenges remain, not least of which the potential for millions of Angelenos to be infected if social distancing measures are lifted too soon, and the devastating toll paid by seniors in homes. But I’m confident Los Angeles has the leadership it needs to get through this crisis and is a model for other large cities across the country.

            “It’s clear that additional federal funds are necessary for states, counties and cities to provide these most necessary measures. Without them, localities will be unable to adequately control the spread of the virus and we will be in much worse shape. I’ll continue working to find ways for the federal government to support local authorities throughout California.”