Los Angeles County Mask Mandate Revived

On the first anniversary of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s decree closing several schools, Los Angeles County reintroduced its indoor mask rule this weekend, as confirmed instances of the Delta variety grow. On Saturday, at 11:59 p.m., the mask mandate went into effect. In addition, Newsom provided instructions for school reopenings during the pandemic on July 17, 2020, stating that in-person learning would be permitted only if several requirements were met.

The great majority of public and private k-12 schools in the state did not meet the criteria that would have permitted in-person education to continue at the time. According to critics of school closures, many families, including working parents, rely on the support offered by schools. Concerns have also been raised about disruptions in social development and youngsters falling behind in school.

Reopen California Schools wrote on Twitter on Sunday that Newsom’s decision would be remembered as “one of the darkest times in California and US history,” since special interests were prioritized before children. Assemblyman Kevin Kiley, a Republican, said Newsom’s shutdown order caused a lot of damage. Kiley is one of the candidates running in the recall election to replace Newsom in September.

Newsom’s spokesperson did not respond to a Fox News request for comment on the renewed criticism. Closing schools was supposed to be a strategy to stop COVID-19 from spreading. However, due to a “rapid surge” in Delta variant cases, Los Angeles County officials said last week that a law mandating masks to be worn inside regardless of vaccination status would be reinstated. In Los Angeles, about 4 million people are unvaccinated.As the state reopened in June, the state’s statewide mask rule was repealed. The 7-day daily average positive rate is 3.17 percent, according to county data. As of Sunday, 1,635 new instances have been reported.