Mask mandates make a return â along with controversy by
Shoppers wear masks inside of The Cool store Monday, July 19, 2021, in the Fairfax district of Los Angeles. Los Angeles County has reinstated an indoor mask mandate due to rising COVID-19 cases. (Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP) Two months after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said vaccinated individuals didnât need to wear masks in most settings, a growing number of experts are warning itâs time to put them back on. First, there was Los Angeles County, where the rising menace posed by the delta variant of the coronavirus prompted health officials to reimpose a mask mandate. Then, Bay Area health officers on Friday recommended that residents of seven counties and the city of Berkeley, Calif., resume wearing masks indoors. Mask mandates are being discussed, too, in coronavirus hot spots such as Arkansas and Missouri, where cases have sharply increased in recent weeks and many residents remain unvaccinated.