'Cancel everything': Los Angeles' mayor urges residents to stay at home in a new order that mirrors the county's

• Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti urged the city's residents to "cancel everything" on Wednesday night.
• However, the new stay-at-home order issued Wednesday does not add any new restrictions to Los Angeles County's order issued last week, local television station KABC reported.
• The tougher language comes amid a surge in COVID-19. Average daily cases have increased by 225% since early November, Los Angeles County health officials said.

"It's time to cancel everything," Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Wednesday night, issuing a new stay-at-home order that does any new restrictions but does stress that the city is at the "tipping point" with respect to COVID-19.

"My message couldn't be simpler: It's time to hunker down," Garcetti said, as reported by local television station KABC. "Don't meet up with others outside your household. Don't host a gathering. Don't attend a gathering."

The new order — though it caused confusion on Twitter — merely reiterates previous rules, such as prohibiting all gatherings that involve more than one household. Late last month, Los Angeles County issued a nearly identical order that also prohibited outdoor dining and gathering with those outside of your household.

The toughened language, however, comes amid a surge in COVID-19 that county health officials have described as "terrifying."

On Wednesday, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health announced that more than 2,400 people with COVID-19 are currently hospitalized, with nearly a quarter of them in intensive-care, breaking the previous high of 2,316, set a day before.

Since early November, average daily cases have increased by 225%, officials said.

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