Newsom, Garcetti, Breed Under Fire For Maskless Rams Game Pics

LOS ANGELES, CA — Gov. Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and San Francisco Mayor London Breed all found themselves under fire Monday after Laker legend Earvin "Magic" Johnson tweeted photos of himself posing with the maskless politicians at the Rams-49ers game Sunday. Los Angeles County health orders require fans to wear masks at outdoor mega-events such as the football game at SoFi Stadium.

See the tweet here.

Despite the masking requirement, huge swathes of the crowd at Sunday's game ditched their masks once the game started.

As a result, Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger called Monday for state and local health officials to reevaluate COVID-19 mask mandates, saying it should be up to the individual to decide when to wear one.

"Let's do away with blanket COVID-19 masking policies -- they don't make a difference when they're not consistently followed or enforced. We need to trust the public to make the best personal decisions for themselves based on their unique risks and circumstances," she said.

Still, others cited the hypocrisy of political leaders who flouted the health orders.

"While they force California children to wear masks in school, Gavin Newsom and friends get to enjoy a mask-free night of football in a packed stadium," Jessica Millan Patterson, chair of the state Republican Party, said. "His blatant and insulting disregard for his own COVID rules is a crystal-clear sign that it's time for his Draconian policies and state of emergency to go."

Garcetti and Newsom defended themselves against the backlash Monday, insisting the photos were msileading

"The mayor was wearing his mask during the game and removed it for a brief moment to take a few photos," Garcetti's office told City News Service.

Newsom similarly said at an unrelated news conference in Los Angeles Monday that he was "very judicious" about wearing his mask at the game, and insisted he had his mask in his other hand when the photo with Johnson was taken.

He said he only took the mask off momentarily to take the photo.

"The rest of the time I wore it, as we all should," said Newsom.

Los Angeles County health officials expressed concern that carelessness about masking and social distancing at Super Bowl gatherings could reverse recent progress the county has made in battling the Omicron surge.

The county's mask mandate and other COVID guidelines are set by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, with guidance from the Board of Supervisors. Along with outdoor mega-events with more than 5,000 attendees, people are required to wear masks in all indoor public settings, venues, gatherings and businesses. The rules allow people to take off their masks when they are actively eating or drinking, are alone in a separate space, showering or swimming or receiving personal care services that require a mask to be removed.

The county's rolling average rate of people testing positive for the coronavirus continues to fall, reaching 9.1% Sunday down from 9.6% on Saturday and 10.3% on Friday. However, COVID remains widespread across Southern California. The same day the Rams defeated the 49ers to gain their Super Bowl berth, Los Angeles County logged 16,835 new coronavirus cases.

Late Monday afternoon, county Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said lax compliance at Sunday's game shouldn't be used as an excuse to lift mask mandates.

"While some are noting that at large events, like Sunday's NFC Championship game, many were seen not wearing masks, non-compliance with a critical safety measure is not a good reason for ending the requirement," Ferrer said in a statement. "That would be like eliminating speed limits because so many drivers ignore them and feel that they can assess for themselves the safe speed for their travel. At some point soon, transmission will be significantly lower, and we will not need to wear our masks everywhere. Unfortunately, we aren't there yet."

Newsom on Monday reiterated his call for the public to wear masks, but he said in the coming weeks the state will announce its "endemic plan" on practices for the state to live with the virus long term.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.