Los Angeles County's decision to reimpose indoor masking for everyone seemed like a controversial move last month, but it has become increasingly common.
San Francisco and six other Bay Area counties are doing it today. Louisiana, later this week. Washington, D.C. did it over the weekend.
L.A. County reinstated its indoor mask requirement two weeks ago, citing concerns about the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant and multiplying cases.
The numbers continue to rise, and it is too soon to tell whether the indoor making requirement will be enough to stem the upward trend of new COVID-19 cases.
Barbara Ferrer, the county's public health director, said she thinks the mask mandates have kept things from getting even worse.
“Trying to foresee what the future holds has been almost impossible. I think the one decision that our entire team here was immediately and unanimously behind was to require that people put back on their face coversings when they’re inside,” she said.
When asked if the county was considering additional restrictions, "Anything is on the table if things continue to get worse," said Dr. Muntu Davis, the county's health officer. The L.A. County Board of Supervisors is considering mandating that county employees get vaccinated or test for COVID-19 weekly.
Since the mask mandate was reinstated, more troubling information about the Delta variant has been released. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention document indicated Delta may cause more serious illness, and the variant is as contagious as chickenpox.