Covid-19, mask mandates, restrictions and vaccines: live updates

Local officials said Los Angeles County is lifting nearly all indoor mask and vaccine verification requirements.

The change, which takes effect on Friday, eliminates mask requirements in public places such as grocery stores, restaurants and bars. It also eliminates the need to show proof of vaccination or negative test results to enter indoor pubs, wineries or most other businesses.

California rules still require evidence of vaccination or negative test results for entry to large indoor events, as well as masks during transit and in other high-risk settings, including hospitals.

Barbara Ferrer, the county’s director of public health, cited new federal guidelines for measuring risk in communities in her office’s decision to remove restrictions sooner than expected. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s updated procedures, Los Angeles County is in the low-risk category.

However, Dr Ferrer said masks are highly recommended, and individual companies can choose to keep the requirements in place.

“Covid-19 is a killer virus, and it’s still with us – it’s ebbs and flows,” she said. “We need to take advantage of the good times we are about to be in, where we see much less risk across the board for many, and be prepared, if we see a new variable.”

Although the city of Los Angeles, for now, still needs bars, restaurants, and many other indoor businesses to check the status of the vaccine, this moment is a major symbolic sign for Angelenos who have survived and lived under some of the nation’s deadliest surges. Some of the country’s most permanent restrictions.

Dr. Ferrer has It was a special sound of cautioneven after its administration faced frustration with residents who thought strict rules were unnecessary.

But in recent weeks, Dr. Ferrer, along with other public health officials across the country, has turned its focus toward measures to prevent sudden increases, hospitalizations and deaths.

She said the county will continue to help residents get vaccinated, and that her administration will continue to closely track case data to intervene before an outbreak in schools or businesses gets out of control. Dr Ferrer stressed that the county will work to ensure that all communities have equal access to treatments for people who contract Covid-19.

on MondayThe governors of California, Oregon and Washington jointly announced that on March 12, they will lift statewide mask requirements in schools, which were some of the last remaining restrictions statewide. California officials lifted the mask on unvaccinated people in enclosed public spaces on Tuesday.