Maybe facility managers shouldn’t dispose of those masking signs or file away plans about dealing with the pandemic just yet.
As the summer continues in the U.S. and COVID infections again begin to rise, Los Angeles County in California is reinstating indoor mask requirements, regardless of vaccination status, even as the state’s governor lifted mask mandates two weeks earlier.
The masking order went into effect on Sunday, July 18. The mandate was declared after a number of days when more than 1,000 new cases in the county were reported daily. One day’s cases — July 15 — represented an 83 percent increase over the last week, according to KTLA.
L.A. County Health Officer Dr. Muntu Davis said the spike is being driven by unvaccinated people combined with the spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus, a highly-contagious form of the virus. Officials are unsure how long the mandate will last, or if more extreme measures will eventually be needed.
“Given that slightly under 4 million L.A. County residents are not vaccinated, the risk of increased spread of this variant within our county remains high,” Davis told the TV station. “It’s just disappointing that overall vaccination numbers are lower than we need them to be.”
There’s a saying, “as California goes, so goes the country.” If that’s true, then FMs will want to keep an eye on the situation as the country, in many areas, seems to be going in the wrong direction for positive cases.
Dave Lubach is Managing Editor, Facilities Market.
