COVID-19 Update: New Mask Mandate Effective Saturday, July 17

Los Angeles County's daily test positivity rate is 3.75%, an increase from a rate of 1.2% on June 15, when physical distancing restrictions and capacity limits were lifted across all sectors.

According to the CDC, L.A. County's daily increase in cases to the high level where we are now puts us in the category of "Substantial transmission." Considering that we have reported over 1,000 new cases a day over the last 7 days, this daily average case rate is at a substantial community transmission level without the 7-day lag.

For this reason, L.A. County will be implementing an order requiring masking indoors regardless of vaccination status that will go into effect at 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, July 17. Wearing a mask when indoors with others reduces the risk of both getting and transmitting the virus. Masking indoors must again become a normal practice by all, regardless of vaccination status, so that we can stop the trends and level of transmission we are currently seeing.

Some exceptions will apply, and these will be similar to masking requirements that were in place prior to June 15. L.A. County expects to keep this order in place until we begin to see improvements in our community transmission of COVID-19, and states that waiting to be at high community transmission before making a change would be too late.

The L.A. County Department of Public Health will be updating the Health Officer Order to reflect these new changes. You can view the updated HOO, which will be posted no later than July 16, at publichealth.lacounty.gov.