L.A. County to Align with State June 15 Masking Guidelines

4 New Deaths and 202 New Confirmed Cases of COVID-19 in Los Angeles County

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) has confirmed 4 new deaths and 202 new cases of COVID-19.  Of the four new deaths reported today, one person that passed away was over the age of 80, one person who died was between the ages of 65 and 79, one person who died was between the ages of 50 and 64, and one person who died was between the ages of 30 and 49.

To date, Public Health identified 1,245,588 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County and a total of 24,408 deaths. There are 243 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized and 16% of these people are in the ICU. Testing results are available for more than 6,855,000 individuals with 17% of people testing positive. Today’s daily test positivity rate is 0.4%.

Los Angeles County will align with the State’s masking guidance that reflects CDC recommendations and prevents transmission at higher risk settings. Masks will not be required for fully vaccinated individuals, except in the following settings where masks are required for everyone, regardless of vaccination status:

• On public transit (examples: airplanes, ships, ferries, trains, subways, buses, taxis, and ride-shares) and in transportation hubs (examples: airport, bus terminal, marina, train station, seaport or other port, subway station, or any other area that provides transportation)
• Indoors in K-12 schools, childcare and other youth settings.
  • Note: This may change as updated K-12 schools guidance is forthcoming, pending updates for K-12 operational guidance from the CDC.
• Healthcare settings (including long term care facilities)
• State and local correctional facilities and detention centers
• Homeless shelters, emergency shelters and cooling centers

Masks will be required for unvaccinated individuals in indoor public settings and businesses (examples: retail, restaurants, theaters, family entertainment centers, meetings, state and local government offices serving the public).

Additionally, employers and workplaces must continue to comply with Cal/OSHA COVID-19 Prevention Emergency Temporary Standards.

L.A. County masking guidance will be amended to reflect the changes effective June 15.

Public Health will host a Virtual Town Hall on reopening tomorrow, Thursday, June 10, at 6:00 p.m. Join the town hall to get the latest updates on the June 15 reopening of Los Angeles County. The town hall will be streamed live on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube @lapublichealth. For more information and to submit a question, visit: tinyurl.com/AskReopeningTownHall.

“To the many people across our County mourning a family member or friend who has passed away due to COVID-19, we send you our deepest condolences,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “We appreciate the hard work of everyone to keep each other safe and healthy; your efforts make it possible for us to look forward to a full re-opening next week.  With the retiring of most distancing and capacity restrictions, businesses will be able to return to their customary activities.  The remaining public health safety measures of appropriate masking is critically important to protect those who are unvaccinated.  We urge everyone who is unvaccinated to continue to wear their mask while at indoor public settings and businesses and when at outdoor mega events.  And we ask all who are fully vaccinated, to wear a face covering as required when using public transit, indoors at schools, camps and childcare, at healthcare settings and high risk congregate housing facilities.”

Many schools have reopened in L.A. County. As of June 8, 1,847 schools are providing on-campus services for high needs students. This includes over 111,137 students and over 38,600 staff. As of today, over 2,083 schools have notified Public Health that they are open in Los Angeles County, representing 1,427 public schools in 67 individual districts, 395 private schools, and 261 charter schools.  In total, 439,670 students and 84,166 staff are back in classrooms. More than 2,340 school site visits have been conducted across L.A. County.

Outbreaks at schools are extremely rare in L.A. County. There have been 98 K-12 school affiliated outbreaks since Sept 1, 2020, with only one new outbreak over the last 4 weeks. This is a significant drop from what the County saw during the surge, when there were more than 50 outbreaks in the month of December alone.

Through tomorrow, Thursday, June 10, everyone 18 and older coming to get their first vaccine or who brings a first-time vaccine recipient with them to their second dose appointment at County-run vaccination sites, L.A. City and St. John’s Well Child and Family Center sites, will have an opportunity to win a pair of season tickets to the 2021-2022 home season of either the LA Football Club soccer team or the LA Dodgers. Official rules and participating site locations can be found on the Los Angeles County Vaccination Sweepstakes page online.

Anyone 12 and older living or working in L.A. County can get vaccinated. COVID-19 vaccinations are available at County-run sites, LA City run sites, almost all mobile sites and many of the community sites without an appointment. Many sites are open on weekends and have evening hours.

Visit: www.VaccinateLACounty.com (English) and www.VacunateLosAngeles.com (Spanish) to find a vaccination site near you, to make an appointment at vaccination sites, and much more. If you don’t have internet access, can’t use a computer, or you’re over 65, you can call 1-833-540-0473 for help finding an appointment, connecting to free transportation to and from a vaccination site, or scheduling a home-visit if you are homebound.  Vaccinations are always free and open to eligible residents and workers regardless of immigration status.

County Reopening Protocols, COVID-19 Vaccine Dashboard, COVID-19 Surveillance Interactive Dashboard, Roadmap to Recovery, Recovery Dashboard, and additional actions you can take to protect yourself, your family and your community are on the Public Health website, www.publichealth.lacounty.gov.

Please see additional information below: