If Californians thought the pandemic was finally coming to an end, they can think again. Just a couple of weeks from the June 15 reopening of the state, residents of Los Angeles County are being asked to put their masks back on in response to a rise in COVID-19 cases derived from the Delta variant. The new mandate is required for both the vaccinated and unvaccinated and will be implemented in enclosed shared public areas, such as restaurants, shopping stores, stadiums, theaters, and gyms.
Reports indicate that the unvaccinated have not been wearing their face masks despite a statewide campaign to influence people to do so. The mandate is an odd request given that nearly 52% of Californians are vaccinated and would be protected from the virus either way. With the exception of the COVID-19 vaccination card, the lack of a formal and mandatory verification protocol to assess who and who isn’t vaccinated has coerced L.A. County health officials to reinstate the mask mandate for all Californians with the intent to motivate people to get the vaccine.
Major institutions are already developing their own mandates as they open. The University of California education system is requiring that all staff, faculty, and students take the vaccine before returning to campuses this fall. Hollywood agencies and production companies are also requiring employees to provide proof of vaccination before working in enclosed areas.
To date, the U.S. has experienced a total of 34,888,900 coronavirus cases with 4.9 million cases currently active, the highest in the world. California ranks at the top of the list of states with the highest number of cases at 3,851,848 cases. Following behind is Texas, Florida, and New York.
The mask mandate will go into effect on Saturday, June 17, 2021 at noon.
