With mask mandate in place, LA County now leads national battle against the delta variant
LOS ANGELES — By imposing a sweeping indoor mask mandate, Los Angeles County has again pushed itself onto the front lines of the national battle to contain the hyper-contagious delta variant of the coronavirus.
The easily spread strain has been blamed for increases in infections across the country, and it created a new tightrope for public health officials to walk as they seek to balance the need to protect the unvaccinated while acknowledging that those who are can largely resume prepandemic life.
While federal and state authorities continue to urge the unvaccinated to take safety precautions and get their shots, L.A. County has gone a step further: turning to mandatory masking in indoor public settings, even for those who are vaccinated, in hopes of turning the tide.
The effect of the new health order, set to begin Saturday night, won’t become clear for a few weeks. Should the strategy prove successful, L.A. County could provide a blueprint for blunting transmission without resorting to the business closures and lockdowns that sparked so much frustration and fear over the last 16 months.
If it fails, though — either on account of public apathy or because it wasn’t aggressive enough — officials acknowledge they may have to take additional action.
“Anything is on the table if things continue to get worse, which is why we want to take action now,” Dr. Muntu Davis, the county’s health officer, said last week.
Under the county’s order, effective 11:59 p.m. Saturday, masks will be required to be worn in all indoor public settings, such as theaters, stores, gyms, offices and workplaces, and in restaurants when not eating and drinking. Those exempted include children younger than 2.
There remains a debate about whether L.A. County’s new measures are needed.
Though cases and hospitalizations are on the rise nationwide, officials say new infections and hospital admissions overwhelmingly involve unvaccinated people. In fact, more than 97% of patients entering hospitals nationwide with COVID19 are unvaccinated, said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Walensky said local policymakers might consider additional masking measures “if you have areas of low vaccination and high case rates,” at least until a community’s vaccination rates improve.
About 52% of L.A. County residents are fully vaccinated, and roughly 60% have gotten at least one shot. But given the region’s enormous population, that still leaves millions vulnerable.
Dr. Robert Kim-Farley, medical epidemiologist and infectious diseases expert at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, said he’s not worried about the pandemic approaching the same level of devastation seen half a year ago, but is “concerned about the trajectory and the speed of the doubling of new cases.”