LOS ANGELES — With the coronavirus resurgent and cases and hospitalizations on the rise, Los Angeles is poised to become the first California county to reinstate mandatory public indoor masking.
If the situation sounds familiar, it’s because it is. Almost exactly one year ago, the county took the same step to combat a surge fueled by the Delta variant of the coronavirus. It was the first, but it wasn’t the last. Officials in at least 20 counties — including Ventura, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Sacramento and a large swath of the San Francisco Bay Area — would eventually follow suit.
Unless conditions improve, Los Angeles County will by the end of the month find itself in an identical position: issuing a face covering order even though no other county currently appears ready to do the same.
