LA County To Ease Mask Mandate Sooner Than Expected, Hahn Says

LOS ANGELES, CA — Los Angeles County's strict indoor masking mandate may ease as early as this week, Supervisor Janice Hahn announced on social media Tuesday. If true, masks would come off before the county meets the criteria recently outlined by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

According to Hahn, vaccinated people will soon be able to shed face coverings in indoor locations that verify COVID-19 vaccination status. She predicted that health officials would issue new orders to take effect as soon as Friday.

The order would allow "vaccinated people to take off their masks indoors at places that check for proof of vaccination," Hahn wrote. "This puts us significantly closer to aligning with the state."

Hahn, along with Supervisor Kathryn Barger, have expressed frustration with the county's health orders, which are more strict than the state's. The Department of Public Health did not immediately confirm Hahn's announcement.

The announcement comes the same week a flurry of new studies were released finding that immunity from COVID-19 vaccine boosters lasts longer than previously thought.

However, only 36 percent of Los Angeles County residents have received a booster shot and only 74 percent of eligible residents 5 and older have been vaccinated. Nearly 3 million people have tested positive for COVID-19 countywide since the start of the pandemic.

The move comes after the state eased its indoor mask mandate and the same day some major retailers such as Target ended masking requirements for customers and employees regardless of vaccination status unless mandated by local health orders.

Such a move would be a major easing of the county's strict indoor mask mandate, which requires people to don face coverings in most indoor settings regardless of vaccination status. The county rule remains in force, even though the state lifted its indoor mask mandate last week.

County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer previously outlined metrics that would have to be met for the county to drop its indoor mask mandate — metrics that would likely keep the rule in place until the end of March.

But dissent grew among the county Board of Supervisors last week when Hahn joined Barger in asking that the county align with the state on the indoor masking issue.

Although the majority of the five-member board continued to support the county's masking rule, Ferrer told the panel last Tuesday that the health agency was exploring the possibility of easing the indoor mandate at places where other "layers of protection" are in place, such as mandatory COVID vaccinations or testing.

Previously, Ferrer said the indoor mask rule would remain in place until:

• the county's level of COVID transmission falls to the "moderate" level as defined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and remains there for two weeks; OR
• COVID vaccines have been available to residents under age 5 for at least eight weeks; AND
• no emerging COVID "variants of concern" have been identified that could spark another surge in cases.

According to Ferrer, reaching the CDC's "moderate" level of transmission requires the county to have a seven-day cumulative infection rate of less than 50 per 100,000 residents. As of Monday, the county's rate was 133 per 100,000 residents.

Ferrer noted that the county's rate has been steadily declining, and at the current pace, the county would reach the "moderate" designation by March 16, meaning the indoor mask mandate would be lifted by March 30.

Barger argued, however, that maintaining stricter rules than the state created confusion among residents and contributed to a lack of compliance -- which was on full display during the recent Super Bowl in Inglewood, where fans almost universally violated the county's outdoor mask-wearing mandate.

That outdoor masking mandate was lifted last Wednesday -- three days after the Super Bowl -- for outdoor "mega-events" and outdoor activities at schools and child care centers. Masks are still required indoors at schools under a state order that is scheduled to be reviewed again at the end of the month.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles County reported another 36 COVID-related deaths on Tuesday, raising the overall pandemic death toll to 30,411.

Another 1,188 cases were also confirmed, giving the county a cumulative total from throughout the pandemic of 2,785,449. The rolling average daily rate of people testing for the virus was 1.9% as of Tuesday.

According to state figures, there were 1,276 COVID-positive patients in county hospitals as of Tuesday, down from 1,310 on Monday. Of those patients, 279 were being treated in intensive care.

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