L.A. County goes it alone in push for new coronavirus mask rules, igniting familiar debate(LA Times)

[pstokely]

https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.latimes.com%2Fcalifornia%2Fstory%2F2022-07-19%2Fl-a-countys-push-for-covid-mask-rules-ignites-familiar-debate

Sustained growth in coronavirus-positive hospitalizations has Los Angeles County on the brink of a new public indoor mask mandate, a move officials say could help curb still-widespread transmission, but it has raised some concerns among business groups and sparked questions about its necessity.

Though the count remains well below the peaks of earlier surges, hospitalizations have swelled. In L.A. County, 1,299 coronavirus-positive patients were hospitalized as of Monday — up 60% since the start of the month. The story is much the same in intensive care units, where the latest daily census, 137, is far below the highs of previous waves but has increased almost 51% since July 1.

Although they’re not as high as during the peak of previous waves, the current number of coronavirus-positive patients in ICUs is roughly the same as when L.A. County last implemented an indoor mask mandate, on July 17, 2021. On that date, there were 134 coronavirus-positive patients in intensive care units.

Deaths have dramatically increased, too, but still remain far below the last wave. Over the last month, weekly COVID-19 death rates in L.A. County have roughly doubled.

[tinrobot]

1. I'm in LA, I started masking again a week or two ago.

No need to take risks. Seems like we're about about 50% in the grocery stores, so I'm not alone.

But I think there will definitely be some pushback to this mandate, should it take effect. Some people are irrationally stubborn.