Los Angeles County could reintroduce its mask mandate, health officials said Thursday.
Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said mandatory indoor masking could return if the county meets the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s high transmission rates and hospital bed occupancy categories. of Disease Control (CDC).
“If both indicators of hospitalization, new COVID-19 admissions, and the proportion of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID patients exceed the high threshold, Los Angeles County will revert to universal indoor masking,” he said.
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A man gets a haircut while people still wear their masks, amid the coronavirus pandemic, in Los Angeles in February. Los Angeles County health officials said Thursday they could reimpose the mandate if COVID transmission increases.
(Reuters)
As of Thursday, the county’s level of community transmission was in the medium range, with a rate of 165.3 cases per 100,000 residents, Fox Los Angeles reported. New hospitalizations for COVID-19 were 11.9 per 100,000 people, and 5.6% of staffed hospital beds were used by COVID-19 patients, according to CDC data.
For a county to reach the top transmission category, the threshold kicks in once you reach more than 10 new COVID-19 hospitalizations per 100,000 people if the county sees more than 200 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people, according to the CDC.
Indoor masking in the county remains optional.
On Thursday, the county reported 4,493 new cases of COVID-19 and 14 new deaths.
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The county lifted indoor masking for public transportation in September
