With the rise of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, Los Angeles is likely to be the first in Southern California county to reinstate indoor public masking, according to L.A. Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer.
The reason comes from rising numbers over the past few weeks which have led our county to be moved into the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s “high” virus-activity level. The category change came when the average daily rate of COVID hospitalizations rose to 10.5 per 100,000 residents.
As of July 20, 2022, the L.A. Public Health reported 6,450 new positive cases and 18 deaths in the county due to COVID-19 within the last 7 days alone.
“The highly infectious BA.5 subvariant is fueling the rapid spread of COVID, leading to increases in Los Angeles County cases, hospitalizations and deaths, with residents in areas of high poverty being hospitalized at a higher rate,” stated LA. Public Health in a press release. “In LA County, the Omicron variant continues to account for 100% of the county’s sequenced specimens, with BA.5 dominating, representing 48% of all sequenced specimens.”
If current trends continue for another consecutive week, the mandatory indoor public mask mandate will be reinstated and will take effect by July 29.
L.A.’s present mandate only requires masks during public transportation. If the new mask mandate is indeed reinstated, residents will be required to wear masks in any indoor public space, and it will remain in place until L.A. County falls back to the “medium” level for two weeks. For more information, please visit the L.A. Public Health site.