Los Angeles County, home to 10 million people, is on pace to require masks indoors again as of July 29 because of a “high” level of COVID activity.
As was reported by Digital Journal on July 13, the latest COVID-19 surge in the U.S. is driven by the highly transmissible BA.5 variant, which now accounts for 65 percent of cases with its cousin BA.4 contributing another 16 percent.
The variants have shown a remarkable ability to get around the protection offered by vaccination, and cases, and hospitalizations have been increasing.
According to ABC News, the county had previously been at the “medium” COVID level as defined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, based on the elevated rate of people being infected with the virus.
Los Angeles County reached the “high” COVID Level once hospitalizations for COVID topped 100 admissions per 100,000 residents on Thursday, said County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer.
If the county stays at the high category for two weeks straight, officials would bring back rules requiring the wearing of masks during most indoor public activities. At the earliest, that would be July 29.
“I do recognize that when we return to universal indoor masking to reduce high spread, for many, this will feel like a step backward,” Ferrer said. But she said universal masking “makes a lot of sense because it helps us to reduce risk.”
A universal mandate would spread the requirement to all indoor public spaces, including shared office spaces, manufacturing facilities, retail stores, indoor events, indoor restaurants, and bars and schools, reports NBC News.
Health officials have also warned that the actual number of new infections occurring in the county is not fully reflected in the daily numbers because many people now rely on at-home tests, the results of which are not always reported to the county.
