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Los Angeles County recorded more than 1,900 new cases of the coronavirus on Friday, another big jump, as a mandatory mask restriction for indoor public places takes effect on Saturday night.
Over the past week, LA County has reported an average of more than 1,000 new cases of coronavirus per day – a tally which, while only a fraction of the record number seen in previous outbreaks, is still six times higher than what the county saw in mid-June.
The number of daily cases has jumped: 1,537 new cases were reported Thursday and 1,902 more were added Friday.
COVID-19-related hospitalizations also doubled over the same period, from 223 on June 15 to 462 on Thursday. More than 8,000 coronavirus-positive patients have been hospitalized across the county during the darkest days of the winter wave.
Requiring masks for everyone, officials said, offers even more protection for those who are vaccinated while simultaneously ensuring that unvaccinated people can no longer bypass face coverage requirements indoors.
Each infection averted, experts say, is one less chance for the coronavirus to mutate in potentially dangerous ways – as happened with the Delta variant.
Under the county ordinance, beginning at 11:59 p.m. Saturday, masks will be required to be worn in all indoor public places, such as theaters, stores, gymnasiums, offices and workplaces, and in restaurants when they are not eating and drinking. Those exempted include children under 2 years old.
Indoor public spaces will be affected, such as theaters, shops, public places and shopping malls. The mask rules will essentially revert to what they were before the county lifted them for the June 15 reopening. Around this time, some retailers abandoned their mask rules.
The order will continue to allow indoor catering operations, but it requires people to keep their masks on while they order and while they wait for food.
Although cases and hospitalizations are on the rise across the country, authorities say new infections and hospital admissions overwhelmingly involve unvaccinated people. In fact, more than 97% of patients entering hospitals nationwide with COVID-19 are unvaccinated, said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Walensky said local policymakers might consider additional masking measures “if you have areas of low vaccination and high case rates,” at least until a community’s vaccination rates improve.
About 52% of LA County residents are fully vaccinated and about 60% have received at least one injection. But given the region’s huge population, that still leaves millions of people vulnerable.
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