The health director declared on Thursday that Los Angeles County has abandoned plans to reinstate a mandatory universal indoor mask requirement as the Covid surge is winding down and hospitalisation rates have stabilised.
The LA County Department of Public Health may reintroduce a face-covering requirement if trends in hospital admissions persist under standards set by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, health head Barbara Ferrer warned two weeks prior.
But she revealed yesterday that the country’s most populated county had avoided the need to re-impose the broad mask restriction in the eagerly awaited weekly public health briefing.
It’s difficult for us to see reintroducing widespread indoor masking at this point in our considerable decline, Ferrer added.
Beverley Hills, Pasadena, El Segundo, and Long Beach have all publicly stated that they would not have implemented the regulation, thus it is likely that the county would have encountered resistance if they had attempted to mandate that people wear masks indoors once more.
El Segundo Mayor Drew Boyles made the following comment prior to the announcement: “My City Council colleagues and I strongly think the decision to wear a mask should be the discretion of the individual and should not be imposed by L.A. County.”
The decision was made at a time when the county’s level of community transmission was still considered to be “high” by the CDC, but recent Covid data indicated that it was likely to decrease to “medium” over the next few weeks.
Ferrer claimed that since July 23, transmission has been slowly falling, indicating flat or declining data.
Additionally, fewer people are being admitted to hospitals, “possibly suggesting the start of a declining trend in cases.”
However, she cautioned that the situation was still being closely watched and was vulnerable to change if the rates of transmission and hospitalisation started to shift in the opposite direction.
Ferrer reminded the populace that, despite not being required, face masks were still a useful and advised instrument for preventing the spread of Covid.
Health care establishments, Metro trains and buses, airports, jails, and homeless shelters will all continue to have a mask requirement.
If the new rules had been put into effect, everyone who enters any indoor public space, including shared offices, factories, warehouses, shops, dining establishments, bars, theatres, and schools, must wear a mask at all times.
The highly contagious, immunization-evading BA.5 variant, which now makes up the majority of cases, is to blame for the recent surge in Covid cases that is currently wreaking havoc in the United States.
The effectiveness of a mandate and the wisdom of trying to enforce it are issues that would have made any renewed mask mandate exceedingly contentious both locally and nationally.
Under previous regulations, no one was issued a citation for refusing to wear a mask because officials preferred education to issuing penalties.
The Democratic mayor of Beverly Hills, Lili Bosse, said on Fox and Friends yesterday that her city would disobey any requirement for masks.
Prior to this, she had ruled out the possibility of enforcing an indoor mask mandate, and the council, under her leadership, unanimously decided against devoting resources.
The LA County cities of Long Beach and Pasadena, each of which has its own health department, had also declared they would not enforce the rule.
According to a statement from Long Beach, “The [Long Beach] Health Department strongly encourages people to practise personal responsibility and common-sense measures to protect themselves, their loved ones, and the greater community from Covid-19.”
“Person(s) are advised to mask indoors when in public places, conduct rapid testing before and three to five days after social gatherings, and whenever possible, choose outdoor activities.”
Because “unenforceable mandates don’t work,” Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said she was pleased with Ferrer’s announcement.
“I’m hopeful that we can now shift from this increased focus on masking mandates to what really matters,” Barger said in a statement on Thursday.
“We need to focus on promoting the efficacy of vaccines and boosters, improving access to COVID-19 treatments, and continuing to educate our County’s residents on the benefits of masking.”
“I am at ease leaving this decision in the very capable hands of the public.”