This archive report was first published on 19 July 2021.
Los Angeles County Reinstates Mask Mandate Amid Rising Covid-19 Cases ¶
As the sun rose over Santa Monica, California, on Sunday, July 18, 2021, patrons of the Third Street Promenade were adjusting to the new normal – an order from Los Angeles County to wear masks indoors in businesses and public places.
Most customers took their masks on and off at the entrance of shops, where signs were posted to remind them of the policy. Out-of-state tourists found themselves wearing masks for the first time in months, sometimes annoyed but largely compliant.
“Some people think it’s a punishment,” said Lisa Liu, 38, who was shopping on Sunday. “But for me, it’s a mask – it’s not a big deal.”
The decision to reinstate the mask mandate was met with cautious acceptance by some store and restaurant employees, who were wary of enforcing the policy with mask-resistant customers.
Anna Ituh, 50, said that her bosses at a local retail store had instructed her to ask customers to put on a mask when they entered, but that she wasn’t allowed to insist that they do so. “I don’t play games with that,” she said. “I’m that person that will tell them.”
The indoor mask mandate for all people, regardless of vaccination status, took effect at midnight on Saturday, making Los Angeles County the first major county in the United States to reinstate such a requirement.
Coronavirus case counts have risen sharply under the less stringent guidelines, especially as the highly transmissible Delta variant continues to spread. The county’s daily average of new cases has more than doubled in each of the past two weeks, reaching almost 1,400 as of Saturday.
“When you look back at the last seven days, obviously a whole lot has changed,” said Hilda L. Solis, the chairwoman of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. “I am not pleased that we have to go back to using the mask in this matter, but it’s going to save lives.”
However, the Los Angeles County sheriff, Alex Villanueva, said in a statement on Friday that his officers would not be enforcing the mandate.
“Forcing the vaccinated and those who already contracted Covid-19 to wear masks indoors is not backed by science,” Sheriff Villanueva wrote.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health can issue a notice of violation or a citation to businesses that fail to comply with the mandate, but a county spokeswoman said that “education and information sharing” would be the department’s primary approaches.
On the glossy Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, a sense of unease hung in the air as stores began to open their doors late on Sunday morning. Outside Louis Vuitton, customers were being checked in and handed masks if they were not yet wearing them.
“No one is fighting us on it, which is good, so far; it’s early,” said Jasmine Garcia, the store’s concierge. “It’s gotten pretty bad,” she said of how some customers had behaved before the restrictions were first lifted last month.
At a nearby art gallery, which sells paintings by Dalí, Picasso and Matisse, Brynlie Johnston, a research assistant, said she felt resentful that she and other staff members had to enforce the mandate.
“I’m too scared to tell people to put them on,” she said. “They will scream at you.”
At nearby Chaumont, a vegan bakery, a line of largely masked people snaked across the tiny storefront. One customer, Melissa Fry, who was unmasked and said she felt frustrated by the new rules, as other states returned to normalcy.
Her friend Sarah Robarts, who had a gray mask pulled over her face, disagreed. “If it’s for the betterment of the whole,” she said. “We’ve got to do it, and I’ll roll with it, as inconvenient as it is to me personally.”
Keeping track of the ever-changing policies and recommendations has been a yearlong challenge for residents of Los Angeles County.
