Tonight, the latest Health Order from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health – requiring masks indoors regardless of your vaccination status – will go into effect. This is a necessary action to help stop the rapidly rising cases of COVID 19 infections and deaths. LA County has 10 million residents and nearly half of our population is still not vaccinated. The Department of Health confirmed 1,827 new COVID 19 cases which is an eight-fold increase compared to the 210 cases seen when the state reopened on June 15. LA County is not exempt from the national trend in rising cases. This is due to the continued need to vaccinate as many people as possible and the increased presence of the highly infectious Delta variant. Our recovery requires a sustained commitment to stopping the spread of COVID.
This surge is especially dangerous for my constituents, many of whom do not have the ability to work safely from home and whose communities continue to be disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. We have come a long way from a year ago when our fight to end COVID 19 began and we will continue to make progress with data informed decisions to protect public health. It would be reckless to disregard the rising numbers we are seeing and the hard lessons learned from the past year. We know that when there is uncertainty in who has been vaccinated, wearing a mask helps stop the spread of this virus. So I am asking you to join me in following this Health Order and encourage you to get vaccinated if you haven’t done so yet.
To find a vaccination site near you visit www.VaccinateLACounty.com (English) and www.VacunateLosAngeles.com (Spanish). If you know someone who doesn’t have internet access or a computer or needs transportation support to get vaccinated, please share this number 833-540-0473.