Los Angeles County reached a “high” level of COVID-19 infections, according to public health officials, meaning a mask mandate could be imposed in two weeks as the highly transmissible Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 make waves across the country.
three-tier criteriaL.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer expressed concern to reporters Thursday about the new infections, saying “we have a ton of transmission right now,” and stressed her position on masking up.
“Sensible safety precautions that can slow down the spread of the virus are warranted, and that includes universal indoor masking,” she said. “I do recognize that when we return to universal indoor masking to reduce high spread, for many this will feel like a step backwards,” Ferrer said. But she added that masking “makes a lot of sense because it helps us to reduce risks.”
“We know how to manage it,” Dr. Ashish Jha, coordinator of the White House’s COVID-19 response, said at a virtual press briefing. “We can prevent serious illness. We can save lives and we can minimize disruptions caused by COVID-19.” The city abandoned it, but Philadelphia Health Commissioner Cheryl Bettigole said the city’s response level system and announcement of a mandate did its job by causing people to increase their awareness and precautions. The spike decreased significantly the week of the mandate.
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