Los Angeles County will keep mask mandate at airports and on public transit, despite federal change
LOS ANGELES — Despite recent changes at the federal level, Los Angeles County will continue to require travelers to mask up when aboard public transit or in indoor transportation hubs such as airports.
The new health officer order, which goes into effect Friday at 12:01 a.m. Pacific time, means the nation’s most populous county will again have face-covering rules that go beyond those set by the state.
On Wednesday, the California Department of Public Health unveiled its own updated guidance that strongly recommends residents mask up when using public transit, though it’s no longer required.
L.A. County’s mask order covers commuter trains, subways, buses, taxis, Ubers and Lyfts; as well as indoor transportation hubs, including bus terminals, subway stations, seaports and other indoor port terminals, according to Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer. It applies to everyone 2 and older, regardless of their COVID-19 vaccination status.
The order includes Los Angeles International Airport and Hollywood Burbank Airport. Ferrer said she expects the Long Beach and Pasadena public health departments, which operate independently of the county, to adopt a similar order.
In opting to maintain the mandate, Ferrer cited both the continued elevated level of coronavirus transmission countywide and a recent assessment from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that, “at this time, an order requiring masking in the indoor transportation corridor remains necessary for the public health.”
“That resonates with us,” Ferrer told reporters during a briefing Thursday. “We think and agree that public transit settings ... and public transportation hubs that are indoors are places where, a) There’s a lot of mingling; b) They’re often crowded; and c) In some of those settings, it’s really hard to have adequate ventilation.”
She continued, “As soon as CDC determined that it was important to keep this masking requirement in place, we went ahead and aligned with the CDC.”
The CDC had intended to keep the federal mask order on public transportation systems such as buses, trains and airplanes in place at least until May 3, pending further review of increasing coronavirus cases nationally. But that timeline was upended by a court ruling striking down the mandate earlier this week.
The Justice Department has since moved to appeal the decision.
Ferrer said this latest health order is not meant as a precursor to the reinstitution of broader mask mandates, such as in schools or other indoor public settings.
She did, however, acknowledge that some residents may feel a touch of whiplash as many airlines, transit systems and commuting companies, including Uber and Lyft, announced they would lift masking requirements for passengers following the court ruling.
“I think it’s important to note that the CDC did not change their requirements/recommendation, their guidance,” Ferrer said. “A judge, a federal judge with little experience in public health, actually determined that and questioned ... whether CDC had the authority to issue that regulation.”
L.A. County is not the first local entity to issue its own transit masking order in the aftermath of Monday’s federal court ruling. On Tuesday, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said the mask mandate would remain in effect at John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports in New York City, based on local public health guidance.