Los Angeles County businesses scramble as new mask mandate takes effect again

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Several businesses in Los Angeles County were struggling Sunday to respond to a new public health order requiring residents to wear masks in all indoor public spaces, regardless of their vaccination status.

The new health system, which came into effect as of midnight Sunday, comes amid a resurgence of the coronavirus pandemic that has seen a spike in local case rates and hospitalizations.

Health officials have said that fully vaccinated people are protected from serious illness, and the new directive is an attempt to prevent the spread of the contagious delta variant among unvaccinated people.

For many companies in Southland, the new mandate is likely to create confusion – and possibly backsliding – among customers.

At the Sierra Health and Fitness Center in Sierra Madre, gym owner Sandy Duval said she would put up a large sign outside her business, saying “Organs Only Vaccinated.”

“People who haven’t been vaccinated, I want them to be safe too. I want them to be smart too,” Duval said, citing recent statistics that the most people who get sick from COVID-19 are those who haven’t been vaccinated.

Officials say about 99% of people who contract the disease are not immune. This mirrors trends seen nationwide, as more than 97% of COVID-19 patients hospitalized across the country are not immune, according to Dr. Rochelle Wallinsky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said Friday that his department will not implement the new mandatory indoor mask requirement.

“Forcing vaccinators and those who have already contracted Covid-19 to wear masks indoors is not supported by science,” Villanueva wrote in a statement posted on his administration’s website on Friday.

The statement continued that the Sheriff’s administration “will not expend our limited resources and will instead require voluntary compliance.”

L.A. County’s latest mask mandate also puts the district’s Department of Public Health at odds with both the state’s Department of Public Health and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — both of which say vaccinated people do not need to wear masks in most enclosed spaces.

With California fully reopening and pandemic restrictions lifted, it remains unclear how much residents are willing to pick up their masks again — especially with little enforcement.

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