With a decision expected tomorrow on whether Los Angeles County will re-impose an indoor mask mandate due to COVID-19, officials from several cities said they will not enforce such a rule if it is implemented.
Officials of Long Beach, Pasadena, and El Segundo said July 26 they would not follow such an order after evaluating the hospitalization metrics and local COVID case rates. “Hospitalizations among Long Beach residents remain stable, area hospitals have adequate capacity and fatalities remain low,” reads a statement by the City of Long Beach. “The City of Long Beach will continue to align with the California Department of Public Health, which strongly urges, but does not require, masking in most circumstances.”
In the past seven days, the average number of daily new cases in Long Beach was 477 per 100,000 people with nearly 10 hospitalized. As the hospitalization rate remains stable, city officials said, local hospitals have an adequate capacity to serve more other patients.