Malibu Extends City Hall Closure For The Second Time

MALIBU, CA — Malibu city hall will remain closed until Feb. 22 due to high rates of COVID-19 transmission in the city and Los Angeles County, the city announced Thursday.

This is the second extension of the initial closure on Jan. 5. Though in-person services will be paused, city personnel will continue to work remotely, according to a news alert from the city. Virtual appointments can be made with the planning, public works, building safety and other departments using the city's website.

"The temporary closure is out of an abundance of caution to help slow the spread of COVID-19 amidst the current surge to protect the health and safety of the community, especially seniors and other high-risk groups, and to allow City staff to continue to safely provide essential City services," city authorities wrote in a news alert.

The city of Malibu had 1,964 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 as of Wednesday, an increase of 43 in just a week, according to Los Angeles County public health data. While the recent surge of COVID-19 has slowed down, authorities are still not considering the county to be "post-surge" on account of high hospitalization and death rates.