Plastic surgeries can resume in Beverly Hills thanks to a recent city council vote.
The Beverly Hills City Council approved an amendment to a March 16-instituted urgency ordinance regarding elective procedures with a 4-1 vote this week. The amendment, per a press release from the council, means Beverly Hills now falls under state and county guidelines, which "encourage [elective procedures'] suspension" but do not prohibit them outright due to COVID-19.
Councilmember John Mirisch, who voted against the effort, spoke with CNN to let the world know that he is very much not down for any of this.
"In the middle of a pandemic, nobody needs Botox," he said. "To me, that's just kind of an obvious sort of thing." Mirisch also used adjectives including "ridiculous," "offensive," and "absurd" when discussing the vote. By his assessment, what should have happened was a public clarification regarding an exception for colonoscopies and tumor removals (and similar procedures) instead of just opening up the world of what he considers "purely cosmetic surgery" again.
A Beverly Hills city spokesperson, however, pushed back against the focus on this aspect of the vote, saying Thursday that an assertion that this is "solely about cosmetic surgeries" isn't accurate. And in a tweet shared earlier this week, a city rep clarified that cosmetic surgeries are still not currently recommended by regional health officials during the COVID-19 era. Mirisch had a take on this tweet as well, interpreting it to mean they aren't recommending it "but we're allowing it."
