Los Angeles County Public Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer (Photo: Barbara Ferrer Twitter)
LA County Projecting Mask Mandate In Early January
‘This is not really that enforceable, and everyone kind of knows it’
By Evan Symon, December 8, 2022 7:09 pm
New statistics released by the Los Angeles County Department of Health on Thursday project that, with current COVID-19 case rate growth and more and more hospital beds being taken by COVID-19 patients, the County is now on track to bring back a County-wide indoor mask mandate if rates don’t go down this month.
Since the repeal of state and local indoor mask mandates in the late winter and early spring of this year, fluctuating COVID-19 transmission rates, as well as recent new case rises and new variants, have had counties considering a return of some form of mask mandate. During the summer, Alameda County brought their mandate back briefly, with LA County nearly doing so but dropping plans to do so at the last minute due to both a turnaround of new cases and enormous public outcry.
A dip in cases during the fall quelled fears of a mandate for a time, but with the number of cases climbing again, LA County Public Health Department began to strongly recommend wearing masks indoors last month. The number of cases has continued to increase since. On November 21st, 1,123 new cases of COVID-19 were announced by LA County Public Health. Last week, the number of new cases a day were over 2,700, with an average of 192 COVID-related hospital admissions, with the daily total going well above that average with 4,493 new cases. On Thursday, LA County Public Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer announced that the weekly averages went up again, with the seven day average of the weekly positivity rate hitting 13% for the first time since earlier this year.
Public Health Reports 3,450 New Positive Cases and 17 New Deaths Due to COVID-19 in Los Angeles County. View: https://t.co/El2UbJ1x6G pic.twitter.com/KAOhmBnqca
— LA Public Health (@lapublichealth) December 8, 2022
In addition, some of the triggers to put a mask mandate back in place were also met on Thursday. LA County moved into the CDC High Community level on Thursday, with the case rate per 100,000 people now above 270. A main trigger of the County having an average new COVID patient admission rate of more than 10 out of 100,000 residents was also broken, going up above 14. Ferrer said on Thursday that the last CDC trigger, having 10% or more inpatient hospital beds with COVID patients, was not met, with the percentage only being at 6.9% on Thursday.
However Ferrer also noted that climbing COVID-19 rates has accelerated that percentage. On November 1st, that figure only stood at 2%, with current projections showing that LA. County could hit that figure as soon as December 22nd. Should it be reached then, the County would have two weeks to improve on that or the other trigger figures. If they all remain above the levels after two weeks, the mask mandate would come into effect again. And, according to LA County Public Health, that meansCDC a mask mandate could be announced on January 5th, with implementation coming the very next day.
A likely January return of the mask mandate
“We are seeing a rapid acceleration again,” said Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer on Thursday. “This is the time to put that mask back on. In order for this to be an effective strategy that allows there to be as high compliance as we can get, you do need to give people time. It will be really hard to get back into putting on face coverings. Nobody really likes them, we understand that. We look at the evidence — and it’s very, very compelling — that if people do wear well-fitting, high-filtration masks, they have more protection. And they afford others more protection from transmission.”
“I’m just not sure that it’s a smart move to give up and throw up our hands. Mortality for COVID-19 is still higher than it is for influenza, certainly than the common cold, and most other respiratory illnesses. The number of people being hospitalized and the rates of hospitalization — that’s not really encouraging at the moment. And our hospitals have to deal with the corresponding staffing shortages that happen when you have lots of illnesses.”
With LA County now looking at a likely early January implementation should COVID-19 rates continue the same pace, healthcare workers in the County are currently on edge for the return of the mandate.
“No one is looking forward to this,” said Luisa Renteria, a nurse in Los Angeles who has assisted COVID patients since March 2020, to the Globe on Thursday. “People get more sick as winter approaches, and with everyone travelling this month, we’ll see it get even higher unfortunately.”
“This is not really that enforceable, and everyone kind of knows it, and what we’ll see are more stories of people refusing to wear masks again. Food stores kicking people out for not wearing a mask and banks having armed guards dragging people out – that is going to happen again, because a lot of people just don’t want to do it again. You know, they’re done with it.”
“Plus, if LA does it, it may encourage other counties to bring it back too, since they won’t be alone in it, and that’s a scary thought. As a nurse, I say masking is important because we don’t want COVID to spread even more. As a citizen of LA County, I don’t want to wear one because of what it represents. But here we are.”
An announcement next Thursday is expected by LA County Health on how close they are to reaching that new threshold.
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December 2, 2022 -
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She can mandate all she wants, I will not participate.
I won’t waste time with a rant. This is completely ridiculous and out of control. Actually it was out of control a long time ago. It’s time to demand, which is perfectly legitimate, that the Fake Doctor and Unelected Bureaucrat Barbara Ferrer resign or be fired. If people are unwilling to call for that the L.A. Supes should at the very least hear our protests to being tortured by this lunatic.
There are three L.A. County supervisors (of a total of five) who, in response to email, could be a three-vote majority to get rid of Ferrer. She was shut down at the end of July 2022 because, behind the scenes, Supe Hilda Solis (of all people), threatened to be the third vote against this tin-pot dictator in response to citizen protests. Please take a moment and write to them if you can. If this mandate flies in L.A. County it will be coming to the other Usual Suspect California counties for sure; maybe yours. So maybe even if you don’t live in L.A. County you might consider writing a note of protest. I will post email addresses in plain text instead of a link:
L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis: firstdistrict [at] bos[dot]lacounty[dot]gov
L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn: fourthdistrict [at] bos[dot]lacounty[dot]gov
L.A. Supervisor Kathryn Barger: kathryn [at] bos[dot]lacounty[dot]gov
That goes double for me.
I am not going to be a part of this b..s. .either.
Yikes! LA County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer is scary looking and she should wear a mask at all times?
All businesses and individuals need to move to stop this NOW. There must be near 100% noncompliance.
You said it!
When will the residents of LA County rise up and say NO to this mask nonsense? Enough is enough!
XI demands the populace be CONTROLLED!
She is one of the “great and powerful” (lol)
Who’s behind the curtain? (It’s a staged wrestling match) – IMMUNE webseries
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYrTqAGuG4A (1min 38 seconds)
This is ludicrous, as masks do little to quell the spread of Covid.
Maybe Ferrer has pharma in her stock portfolio?
They have no authority whatsoever to force people to cover their breathing apparatus. Plus masking does NO good and may cause SERIOUS harm. DO NOT COMPLY with these dictators!
Masks are the reason the seasonal flu and RSV are devastating our children right now. There is a Tylenol shortage as well as Amoxicillin. You destroyed kids mental health, you impaired their learning and now their immune systems. CA supports China in destroying Americas future. Please take a stance, save our children!
AMEN Stacy
Have another look at these CA Globe articles from July 2022:
“.A. County Chief Medical Officer Rejects Covid19 Media Hype”
https://californiaglobe.com/articles/la-county-chief-medical-officer-rejects-covid-19-media-hype/
(And one more below)
“L.A. County Feels Blowback on Statement by Docs Refuting Current Covid-19 Hospitalizations”
https://californiaglobe.com/articles/la-county-feels-blowback-on-statement-by-docs-refuting-current-covid-19-hospitalizations/
Former chief strategy officer for the W.K. Kellogg foundation, Barbara Ferrer is a eugenicist to her core.
Oh boy, this is a hot one: Just heard the very smart Susan Shelley, columnist and editor for So Cal News Group, posit that this latest Fake Doctor Ferrer scare tactic has been rolled out to help the negotiating position of UTLA (LAUSD teachers’ union) in their completely unreasonable demand for a 20% pay raise —- a pay raise they think they deserve for pretending to be horrified at having to work through the Big Bad Fake Wolf COVID.
So put that in your pipe and smoke it. That’s Fake Doctor Ferrer in a nutshell.
HA HA HA HA HA – NO!!!!
Almost EVERY ONE of my work colleagues who CAVED and took the blanking shots & boosters to keep their jobs have been SICK MULTIPLE TIMES…and many are out sick NOW… and one associate is dealing with extended significant neurological issues and going to UCLA for extensive testing…
I told them “Nope – not taking it”… and I’ve been FINE all through this summer …
It’s the GD SHOTS that are making people sick (or “dying suddenly”)….
Tell these evil globalists to EFF OFF with their psy op clot-shot campaigns and the associated face-diapering to measure compliance with their tyrannical edicts….
Time to stand up against this evil, and the CBDC programs that they’re planning to roll out as they PURPOSEFULLY CRATER the economy via Biden’s energy policies and bad financial management…
LA County has a real lunatic on their hands. Masks do nothing to prevent the spread of viruses.
There is zero, zip, nada health advice I would take from someone who looks like that. How many small businesses she going to kill this year? Are there even any left?
This is just one reason I am leaving ca after nearly 55 years. I’ve had it with one party rule. High taxes. strangling regulations. Huge rise in crime. I’m taking my tax dollars and moving to a conservative state that will leave me the hell alone.