Will the CA mask mandate come back? 10 counties now strongly recommending face masks indoors
As Los Angeles County's mask mandate is set to be re-instated this weekend, 10 additional counties across California are now strongly recommending all residents, including those fully vaccinated, wear masks indoors.
San Francisco, Sacramento, Yolo, Fresno, Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Sonoma counties, as well as the city of Berkeley, have all issued recommendations for indoor masking regardless of vaccination status. Those counties along with Sacramento make up more than half of the state's population.
Citing continued increases in transmission of COVID-19, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health announced Thursday residents will again be required to wear masks while indoors.
The county previously only recommended mask-wearing indoors. The new mandate will take effect at 11:59 p.m. Saturday, officials announced.
Mask mandate: LA County orders face coverings indoors again as COVID cases spike
On Thursday, California reported its highest number of daily COVID-19 cases since Feb. 22 with 4,651 new cases. Last week, California was reporting just 2,411 cases with a seven-day positivity rate of 2.3%. On Thursday, that positivity rate was 3.7%.
So, will California's mask mandate also return?
California officials have not indicated whether the state will re-implement its mask mandate.
However, the state of California and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention both say those who are vaccinated do not need to wear a mask indoors in public spaces.
Experts say fully vaccinated people may not need to wear masks. Numbers show so-called breakthrough cases are rare.
California Department of Public Health statistics show between Jan. 1 and June 30, the state identified 8,699 breakthrough cases out of more than 20 million who were vaccinated.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on Friday that fully vaccinated people are not likely to spread the virus.
"One can make a reasonable assumption, based on the level of virus in the nasal pharynx, that it would be less likely that that vaccinated breakthrough person would transmit compared to an unvaccinated person," Fauci said.
MORE | LA County seeing 10-fold spike in COVID-19 cases
The problem, according to federal health officials, is rooted in the people who are not getting vaccinated.
Only a quarter of American children ages 12 to 15 are fully vaccinated The U.S. daily case average is up 129% since mid June.
"This is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated," said Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC.
In L.A. County, 61% of residents age 16 and older are fully vaccinated. Starting Sunday, they will once again have to mask up in public.
"I got vaccinated to make my life easier, but apparently it doesn't matter," said Marcus Pedro of L.A.
Some say they don't mind the change.
"It's not punitive; it's not a punishment to anybody," said L.A. resident Isabel Shill. "It's about public safety, and we're not experts and we should follow what the experts are advising."
