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LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Los Angeles County officials released a new Health Officer Order Thursday requiring masks indoors regardless of vaccination status.
The new order will go into effect on Saturday night at 11:59 p.m.
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Masked and unmasked people make their way through Grand Central Market in Los Angeles, California on June 29, 2021.
According to officials, exceptions will apply similar to masking requirements in place prior to June 15.
The move comes as more than 1,000 COVID cases a day have been reported in the county over the last seven days.
On Thursday, officials reported an additional 1,537 cases and three deaths.
The number of people hospitalized with COVID in L.A. County jumped to 452 on Thursday, up from 406 on Wednesday. Of those hospitalized, 96 are in intensive care units.
L.A. County Health Officer Dr. Muntu Davis said the county is “not where we need to be” in terms of vaccinations
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According to Davis, as of June 11, 10,712,037 vaccine doses have been administered and 5,067,109 L.A. County residents have been fully vaccinated.
Davis said that given the rising spread of the virus, “waiting to do something would be too late.”
The city of Long Beach, which has its own health department, released a statement Thursday saying it will follow suit with the county and also require masks indoors.
“The City of Long Beach has seen a 288% increase in average daily cases over the past two weeks as well as a current case rate of 7.5 per 100,000 residents,” Long Beach City Health Officer Dr. Anissa Davis said in a statement…Given these numbers, the City of Long Beach will align with L.A. County in requiring masking indoors regardless of vaccination status.”
Meanwhile Thursday, the Sacramento County Public Health Officer recommended that fully vaccinated people should once again start wearing a face mask indoors in settings where vaccination verification is not required.
Similar to L.A. County, officials said the increase in daily COVID-19 cases appears to be due, in part, to the Delta variant.
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The variant was first detected in India, where widespread infections were reported. The variant is also credited for significant outbreaks in the United Kingdom and other parts of the world.
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