Los Angeles Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer confirmed today that the county would be lifting its indoor mask mandate tomorrow. The move was predicated on the region moving out of the CDC’s “High” level of Covid-19, which it did, skipping all the way to “Low” today.
“We’ll issue a health officer order replacing our masking requirements with strong recommendations,” said Ferrer, promising that would be done later today and go into effect on Friday.
The Los Angeles Department of Public Health indicated the move in a statement yesterday.
“Under this modified order, indoor masking will be strongly recommended, but not required, for vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals, except in high-risk settings where federal and state regulations continue to require masking,” said a Public Health statement.
Those high-risk venues include public transit, emergency shelters, health care settings, correctional and detention facilities, homeless shelters and long-term care facilities. Employers will still be “required to offer, for voluntary use, medical grade masks and respirators to employees working indoors in close contact with other workers and/or customers.”
One exception is for so-called indoor mega events, such as concerts and sporting events. Vaccine verification also “continues to be required for entry to indoor mega events,” according to Los Angeles Public Health officials, “with a negative test result as a substitute for those not fully vaccinated. Vaccine verification at outdoor mega events and indoor portions of bars, nightclubs and lounges is strongly recommended and no longer required.”
