LA Co. Supervisor Opposes Potential Mask Mandate As Cases Remain High

LOS ANGELES, CA — Supervisor Kathryn Barger prepared her constituents Monday for a fight against a looming indoor masking mandate in Los Angeles County.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is slated to receive an update from public health authorities on Tuesday as the county inches closer to a decision on a renewed indoor masking mandate. The mandate could come into effect as soon as Friday unless hospitalization numbers significantly drop.

Barger on Monday said she completely opposes another masking mandate for Los Angeles County in an open letter to her fifth district constituents, which includes parts of the San Gabriel, San Fernando, Santa Clarita and Antelope Valleys.

"What I have seen, time and time again, is that masking mandates actually distract our collective efforts to decrease COVID-19 infection rates. I believe masking mandates are polarizing and are unenforceable," Barger wrote in her letter.

Los Angeles County moved into the CDC's "high" level of COVID-19 community activity earlier this month, when the average daily rate of virus-related hospital admissions rose to 10.5 per 100,000 residents, surpassing the threshold of 10 per 100,000. On Thursday, Public Health Director BarbaraFerrer said the admission rate over the past week rose to 11.4 per 100,000.

If the county stays in the "high" category for two consecutive weeks, an indoor masking mandate will be put in place.

On Friday, however, the county saw a sharp drop in the number of COVID-positive patients hospitalized in the county, with the figure dropping by about 80 people to reach 1,247. The number fell again on Saturday to an even 1,200.

The county clocked 15,319 new cases of COVID-19 since Saturday and 33 new deaths. The daily case rate in LA County has skyrocketed with the spread of the new, highly contagious Omicron variant BA.5.

The case rate showed some early signs of plateauing last week but it was still too early to say whether this hopeful trend would hold, Ferrer said at a news conference Thursday, according to the LA Times.

The Board of Supervisors received nearly 3,000 written public comments ahead of Tuesday's meeting, many of which expressed opposition to the impending mask mandate.

Although dozens of counties in California are also in the "high" virus-activity category, Los Angeles is the only one considering a mask mandate.

Recent hospitalization rate drops and early signs of case plateauing have certainly inspired some hope, but many local businesses are still preparing for another mask mandate and a potential new wave of COVID-19 rules, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Despite Barger's doubt about the effectiveness of masks, Ferrer has repeatedly stressed during recent briefings that studies have proven that masks drive down transmission rates. She called mask-wearing an easy, "sensible" step that can protect against virus spread, particularly in indoor settings.

"When transmission is really high, we would be foolish to be complacent and not layer in additional protections that help those most vulnerable also fully live their lives," Ferrer said Friday.

City News Service contributed to this report.