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The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department ripped off the region’s newly reinstated indoor mask warrant on Friday – saying the COVID-19 precaution is “not backed by science” and that the forces of the order will not apply it.
Sheriff Alex Villanueva said his department was too underfunded to ensure residents comply with the public health order, which is expected to go into effect on Saturday amid a slight increase in coronavirus cases.
Requiring people to wear face covers indoors, even when vaccinated, is “not backed by science” and “contradicts” federal health guidelines, Villanueva said in a statement.
“The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (DPH) has the authority to enforce the order, but the underfunded / disbursed Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department will not spend our limited resources and will demand rather voluntary compliance, ”he said.
“We encourage the DPH to work with the supervisory board and law enforcement to establish mandates that are both achievable and science-backed.”
The mandate – which applies to both vaccinated and unvaccinated people in stores, gyms and retail stores, as well as restaurants when they are not eating or drinking – takes effect just before midnight on Saturday.
Local health officials said Thursday the county recorded more than 1,000 new cases of COVID-19 every day for a week, and that there is now “substantial community transmission.”
On Friday night, the county supervisor said she was concerned about the spike in cases, but expressed ambivalence about the new guidelines, noting that they were not in line with the rest of California.
“I’m concerned about the increase in cases, but I don’t think the mask’s mandate will help efforts to highlight the effectiveness of the vaccine and force unvaccinated residents to get vaccinated,” Supervisor Kathryn said. Barger. tweeted friday.
“LA County should stay aligned with the state instead of creating confusion and disagreement at the local level. “
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