LOS ANGELES—Indoor mask-wearing is no longer mandatory in Los Angeles County, thanks to a new health order that took effect Friday in response to federal data showing a decreased impact of COVID-19 on the county’s health care system.
Effective at midnight, mask-wearing went from mandatory to “strongly recommended” in most indoor spaces across the county. Masking is still required in higher-risk settings, including health care facilities, transit centers, airports, aboard public transit, in correctional facilities, and at homeless shelters and long-term care facilities.
Indoor masks also continue to be required on K–12 school campuses, although the county and state will lift that requirement on March 12. The policy, however, is expected to remain in place in the Los Angeles Unified School District until the end of the school year.
Despite the easing of the requirement, county officials noted that individual businesses can still opt to require face coverings. People are also free to wear masks whenever they see fit, particularly in crowded settings or while interacting with people at higher risk of severe illness from the virus.
The mask mandate was lifted following data released Thursday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that officially moved the county out of the CDC’s “high” virus activity category and into the “low” category. The CDC updates its county-level data every Thursday.
The CDC designations are based largely on the number of new virus-related hospital admissions and on the percentage of hospital beds being occupied by COVID-positive patients, along with a county’s overall rate of new COVID cases.
People attending indoor mega-events of 1,000 or more people—such as sporting events—will still be required to show proof of COVID vaccination or a recent negative test to be admitted. Vaccine verification or a negative test will also still be required for workers at health care facilities and congregate-care facilities.
But the county has dropped its requirement that people show proof of vaccination to patronize indoor portions of bars, nightclubs, and lounges or outdoor mega-events.
However, a City of Los Angeles ordinance that took effect Nov. 8 remains in effect. That ordinance requires people over age 12 to show proof of vaccination before patronizing indoor restaurants, gyms, entertainment and recreational facilities, personal care establishments, some city buildings, and mega-events with 5,000 or more attendees within the City of Los Angeles. People can be exempt from that mandate for medical reasons or if they have a “sincerely held religious belief,” and each business is responsible for reviewing exemptions.
Jack Bradley contributed to this report.
