When coronavirus disease metrics keep coming down, Los Angeles County (LAC) plans on easing the existing outdoor mask order immediately after the hospitalization count stays below 2,500 for seven days.
When the county reaches that many coronavirus hospitalizations for a week, The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health would make face masks not necessary for outdoor school locations or mega-events.
Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer stated that masking would keep being an important element of the so-called post-surge coronavirus strategy in Los Angeles. When the county enters the period after the surge in coronavirus cases, said Ferrer, masking would not be necessary when at K-12 school and childcare locations and mega-events outdoors.
However, the county will require masks for almost every indoor location until it has 14 consecutive days of moderate coronavirus transmission and there is no report of coronavirus strains of concern. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines moderate coronavirus transmission as a situation with less than 8% COVID-19 positivity rate.
LAC will still require companies to offer their workers at least medical-grade masks until it reaches low transmission, a situation with under 5% COVID-19 positivity rate.
At the time of writing this post, LAC has had two days with under 8% positivity rates. Now, it would have to keep having that rate for 14 days to ease its mask order for indoor locations.
Los Angeles City Mayor Eric Michael Garcetti and California’s Governor Gavin Newsom faced scrutiny as their photographs without masks did the rounds online. Newsom and Garcetti attended the final NFC match in Inglewoodwhere they were photographed without face masks.
In response to the controversy, Newsom stated that he was judicious about using a face mask except when posing for the photograph and when drinking. Likewise, Garcetti stated that he removed his face mask only during photography and that he had no risk of infection due to that as he held his breath then.
