With COVID infections continuing to rise in L.A. County, and hospitalization numbers increasing, officials urged residents and businesses to don masks before they become mandatory -- which could happen by month's end.
LOS ANGELES -- If Los Angeles County were to reach the CDC's"high" virus activity category later this month, indoor mask mandates for the region would be triggered shortly after.The Hacienda La Puente Unified School District announced it's requiring indoor masking until July 5.
County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said that if the rate of COVID hospitalization numbers continues rising at the pace it has for the past two weeks, the county would move into the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's"high" virus activity category by late June. Ferrer said that if the county remains in the"high" category for two straight weeks, the county will re-impose a universal indoor mask-wearing mandate.
"Right now the average length of stay for folks who have that positive COVID diagnosis is somewhere between three and four days. So much, much shorter," said Ferrer. "The reason nobody wants to stand too firmly on the projections is because we are seeing an increase in BA.4 and BA.5. More infectious could lead to more spread if it starts taking over," Ferrer told county supervisors.