By Syndicated Content
By Rich McKay
(Reuters) â A new mask mandate in Los Angeles County, set to go into effect at a minute before midnight Saturday and designed to combat the spread of COVID-19, will not be enforced by the countyâs top lawman or his deputies.
The new mandate from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health requires people to wear masks indoors, even if they are already vaccinated against the disease.
But Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said the order is ânot backed by science,â and that it contradicts guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which does not prescribe masks indoors for most vaccinated people.
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The new mandate from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health requires people to wear masks indoors, even if they are already vaccinated against the disease.
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But Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said the order is “not backed by science,” and that it contradicts guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which does not prescribe masks indoors for most vaccinated people.
The mandate comes after weeks of public health officials urging people to wear masks indoors s the highly contagious Delta variant is making COVID-19 cases soar across the state. But it’s unclear whether people will be willing to put on masks again, particularly with Villanueva making it clear there will be little, if any enforcement. The L.A. County Department of Public Health could issue citations to businesses that don’t comply but a spokeswoman said “education and information sharing” would be the main strategy. “Our community will not be able to enforce our way out of this pandemic,” the spokeswoman, Natalie Jimenez, said.
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Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said Friday he will not use his department to enforce a mandatory indoor mask requirement set to take effect this weekend amid a spike in COVID-19 cases across the county since its reopening.
On Thursday, the county Department of Public Health revived a requirement that masks be worn indoors regardless of vaccination status, a month after California dropped its statewide mask mandate for vaccinated people. We’re not where we need to be for the millions at risk of infection here in Los Angeles County, and waiting to do something will be too late, given what we’re seeing, L.A. County Health Officer Dr. Muntu Davis said in a virtual briefing with reporters.