Los Angeles County residents must again use masks indoors regardless of their vaccination status, due to a new measure that began this weekend and with which health authorities hope to reverse the most recent increases in infections, hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19.
The provision went into effect Saturday night in the nation’s most populous county, with 11 million inhabitants, where a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases corresponds mainly to the highly communicable delta variant.
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The vast majority of new infections have occurred among unvaccinated people, Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis said Sunday.
“I”m not pleased that we have to go back to using the masks in this matter but, nonetheless, it”s going to save lives. And right now that to me is what”s most important,” Solis told ABC’s This Week.
California has seen a steady rise in infections since the state fully reopened its economy on June 15 and lifted capacity limits and social distancing.
San Francisco Bay health authorities last week urged people to wear masks in public buildings, offices or businesses regardless of whether they are vaccinated. San Francisco, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Marin, Alameda, Contra Costa and Sonoma County as well as the city of Berkeley abstained from mandating the use of masks.
Other counties, such as Sacramento and Yolo, also urged people to wear masks indoors but not on a mandatory basis.
Los Angeles County’s mask rule, announced Thursday, follows a winter in which the region saw a huge increase in infections and deaths, as hospitals filled with COVID-19 patients and ambulances waited outside for waiting for a bed to be vacated.
Los Angeles County reported 1,635 cases Sunday, the 10th consecutive day with more than 1,000 new infections. On June 15, when the state resumed activities, county-level health authorities reported only 210 new cases.
More than 525 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in Los Angeles County on Saturday, the highest number since April 14. Four new deaths related to the virus were reported on Sunday.
“The level of COVID-19 transmission we are currently experiencing is now leading to significant increases in serious illness and hospitalisations, and requires us to take immediate action to prevent erosion of our recovery efforts,” Barbara Ferrer, the county”s public health director, said in a statement.
Solis said that the LA County mask rule is “not punishment, it”s prevention.” But some vaccinated residents said it felt like they were being penalized despite doing the right thing.
“It feels like the the burden of the unvaccinated is being placed on the vaccinated,” Glendale resident Justin Sevakis told ABC7.
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“It”s like there are people that don”t have common sense and so therefore all of us have to pay for it. And it sucks. It feels like, you know, the teacher is punishing the whole class.”
Image Credit: Getty