Citing Delta Variant, L.A. County Urges Residents To Wear Masks Inside Again

The recommendation comes regardless of vaccination status, public health officials said.

Officials in Los Angeles County on Monday urged residents to don masks once more when they are inside public spaces, citing the rapid spread of the highly transmissible delta variant of COVID-19 around the nation. The updated guidance comes despite residents’ vaccination status and reflects the seriousness of the strain, which has already become the dominant variant of the virus in the United Kingdom. Top health officials have predicted it will soon become the dominant strain in the U.S., too. (The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last week it currently makes up about 20% of newly diagnosed cases, up from about 10% just a week prior.) “While COVID-19 vaccine provides very effective protection preventing hospitalizations and deaths against the delta variant, the strain is proving to be more transmissible and is expected to become more prevalent,” Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, said in a statement. “Mask wearing remains an effective tool for reducing transmission, especially indoors where the virus may be easily spread through inhalation of aerosols emitted by an infected person.”