On Tuesday, Los Angeles County’s top public health official publicly pondered the notion of eliminating the region’s mask rule, at least in part, for the first time.
“With lower transmission and with more people vaccinated we are hopeful that we will be able to lift the mask mandate in settings where there is a large gathering and we know people are vaccinated,” County Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer said at a Board of Supervisors meeting. She quickly qualified that statement by saying it assumes Covid numbers continue to fall and that there is no new, more powerful variant of the virus.
“When we introduced the mask mandate in June,” she continued, “it was related to a higher rate of transmission.” Logically, said Ferrer, a corresponding fall in rates should prompt consideration of the lifting of that mandate. “I do see that lower transmission and more people vaccinated, we’re going to be in a different space.”
Supervisor Holly Mitchell, whose 2nd District runs from Culver City to Compton, went on to say that infection rates “has not lifted equally.”
Ferrer agreed. “You’re absolutely right, it’s an average,” she explained of the 7 day average rate of infections. “And it’s driven by the fact that there is so much testing going on at our schools,” where there is less infection, generally.
“We have pockets where transmission is still a concern,” continued Ferrer. “Those pockets are located in communities where there are lower vaccination rates.”
Given that, and given the county’s experience with the 2020 winter surge she said, “We do have to stay very focused on getting unvaccinated people their doses.”
Ferrer provided no timetable for withdrawing the county’s public health officer order requiring masks at movie theatres, major events, and restaurants.
She did however say,”As Halloween approaches and Thanksgiving and the holiday season approaches, we hope that we can plan for gatherings and maybe even travel.”
On Tuesday, Los Angeles County reported 964 new cases, including 35 new Covid-related deaths. According to the county’s daily report, the number of infected patients in hospitals dipped below 800 this week for the first time in months.