A rising number of covid cases has Los Angeles County health officials threatening a possible return to indoor mask mandates.
In fact, changes could be coming within weeks if we “continue on the current trajectory,” L.A. County Health Director Barbara Ferrer said during a briefing Thursday.“We’re likely to move into the CDC high community level within a few weeks … indicating an increased stress on the health care system,” Ferrer said.The jump to a higher CDC COVID-19 community level, the worst of the three-tier system, would mean the return of mask mandates at most indoor settings.
Not surprisingly, LA area businesses owners are very unhappy.
“I think it’s tough,” said Aaron Han, daily operations manager at Han’s Beauty Store. “As far as our staff, we’re happy to wear masks. We’re all vaccinated, but as far as having our customers do it, it’s tough.”It’s been several months since the staff at all the Han’s Beauty stores in the San Gabriel Valley have had to remind customers to wear a mask….Universal masking would be reinstated a couple of weeks after that, and not many customers are welcoming the idea.”If we have to, we have to, but it would be nice if we can get this thing over with and we can move forward,” said Rick Ursitti of Altadena.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently placed 13 California counties in the high COVID-19 community level, so the mask mandate is already here for a few California areas.
Nearly 1 in 6 Californians live in a county with a high COVID-19 community level. The affected counties are Santa Clara, Sonoma, Solano, Marin and Napa in the San Francisco Bay Area; Sacramento, Placer, Yolo, El Dorado in the Sacramento Valley area; and Monterey, Mendocino, San Benito and Del Norte elsewhere in Northern California.What actions are being taken?Alameda County issued a new mask mandate for most indoor public settings effective Friday, becoming the first California county to do so.The county, home to Oakland, is the Bay Area’s second-most populous. Its mandate is the first issued in California since the winter Omicron surge faded.
The results if the move speak for themselves.
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