AS Los Angeles County reaches the tail end of the winter coronavirus surge, county officials have eased indoor masking requirements for those who are vaccinated.
Starting Friday, Feb. 25, vaccinated individuals may enter establishments, venues, and businesses across the county that require vaccination proof without a mask.
“As transmission drops and there is less virus circulating, some tools may afford significant protections against the very worst risks associated with COVID,” County Public Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer said in a statement. “Because vaccines are one of these tools, with lower rates of hospital admissions and COVID hospitalizations, it is appropriate in settings verifying vaccination or negative test status, that we transition to strongly recommending masking instead of requiring masking.”
Before they enter establishments and businesses, patrons aged 5 and older must verify that they are fully vaccinated. If they aren’t, they must provide a “recent” negative COVID-19 test result; PCR test results must be taken within two days of entry and antigen test results one day.
Those who are not vaccinated and don’t provide vaccination proof are still required to provide a recent negative COVID-19 test before entering and wear a face mask while indoors except when actively eating or drinking.
Individuals who show vaccination proof before entering an establishment may also still choose to wear masks indoors.
As previously reported in the Asian Journal, the State of California lifted the statewide Covid indoor mask mandate in public settings for vaccinated people, but counties, cities, and other jurisdictions were still permitted to maintain the mandate depending on transmission levels.
Ferrer previously said that the county would drop indoor masking requirements only if 7-day transmission levels reached less than 50 positive individuals per 100,000 residents; as of Monday, Feb. 21, the county’s rate was 133 per 100,000 individuals.
But the change was made after growing dissent among the LA County Board of Supervisors urged that the county aligns with the state’s indoor mask mandate, as the Asian Journal previously reported. n
