Biden’s COVID-19 Coordinator Supports Los Angeles County Reinstating Indoor Mask Mandate

White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha speaks at the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, on June 2, 2022. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 response coordinator, Dr. Ashish Jha, has voiced his support for a mask mandate to be reinstated in Los Angeles County amid an increase in COVID-19 cases.

In an interview with ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, Jha pointed to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) recommendation to wear face coverings in crowded places, regardless of vaccination status or individual risk.

Jha’s comments come as Los Angeles County is looking likely to bring back its indoor mask mandate on July 29 if the county remains in the CDC-designated “high level” of COVID-19 transmission.

“My view on this has been very clear, which is local jurisdictions, cities, counties, states should make decisions about mask mandates because communities are different and their patterns of transmission are different,” Jha stated in the interview.

“That said, CDC has very clear guidance on this as well through their COVID community levels. And the CDC recommendation is that when you’re in a high zone, that sort of orange zone as L.A. County is, you know, people wearing masks indoors is really important, and it really will make a difference.”

‘A Step Backwards’

Los Angeles County Public Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer said on July 14 that her county is now seeing a “high” level of virus transmission and suggested that the indoor mask mandate would be reimposed if cases in the county stayed at this level for two consecutive weeks.

“For many, this will feel like a step backwards. But we are not closing anything down,” Ferrer said. “We are not asking people not to gather with the people they love. We’re asking you to take a sensible step, when there’s this much transmission with a highly transmissible variant, to go ahead and put back on a well-fitting high-filtration mask when you’re indoors around others.”

LA County reported 8,954 new cases of COVID-19 on July 15 and another 16 virus-related deaths. According to official data, there were 1,223 COVID-19-positive hospitalizations, up from 1,202 a day prior.

However, in a news conference on July 13, Dr. Brad Spellberg, the chief medical officer of Los Angeles County and University of Southern California Medical Center, and epidemiologist Paul Holtom said that there have been no changes in the transmission levels of COVID-19.

“It’s just the same. It’s not changed. It’s been the same. It’s like … two months of the same,” Spellberg said.

“The numbers at [the hospital system’s] COVID-positive tests have continued to go up, but this isn’t because we’re seeing a ton of people with symptomatic disease being admitted … we’re seeing a lot of people with mild disease in urgent care and [emergency department] who go home and do not get admitted,” he said.

If a mask mandate is reimposed in Los Angeles, it would see citizens having to wear face coverings in places like offices, restaurants, bars, and gyms.

According to a report by the Los Angeles Times, nearly 9 in 10 Californians live in counties with “high” COVID-19 levels.

Increasing Cases

The BA.5 subvariant of Omicron is fueling the latest increase in COVID-19 cases, with the World Health Organization reporting it was behind 52 percent of cases sequenced in late June, up from 37 percent in one week.

In the United States, it is estimated to be causing around 65 percent of infections.

Jha said on Sunday that it’s “really important to remind people of the science, the public health science, and the public health science is very clear. If you’re in a crowded indoor space, especially if it’s poorly ventilated, wearing a mask reduces your risk of infection and reduces your risk of spreading it to others. So we’ve got to continue to encourage people to do that.”

Jack Phillips and Reuters contributed to this report.