L.A. Public Health “strongly recommends” that all Angelenos, regardless of vaccination status, wear masks indoors as a precaution.

The call for masking comes as the ‘Delta’ variant of COVID-19 has become the dominant variant in Los Angeles County and an uptick in positive cases occurred last week.

The recommendations, however, do not come as a mandate and the COVID-19 case rates are still below a threshold that allowed not only L.A. County, but all of California to reopen to full capacity.

The department made the recommendation as the Delta variant is still being tested and unknowns remain about its spread and severity.

“Public Health strongly recommends people wear masks indoors in settings such as grocery or retail stores; theaters and family entertainment centers, and workplaces when you don’t know everyone’s vaccination status,” L.A. Public Health said in a Monday press release. “Until we better understand how and to who the Delta variant is spreading, everyone should focus on maximum protection with minimum interruption to routine as all businesses operate without other restrictions, like physical distancing and capacity limits.”

While fully vaccinated individuals have shown to be protected against the Delta variant, Public Health said there have still been mild illnesses reported from vaccinated people who contracted the COVID-19 variant.

There were three deaths and 259 single-day COVID-19 cases reported in L.A. County Monday, with 238 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19.

 

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