We have more weapons than ever at our disposal in the fight against Covid. We have tests, vaccines, masks, and many other things.
So is Los Angeles winning the fight against Delta?
Mask Mandate
Los Angeles is a little less than a month into its newest mask mandate. How is it working so far?
On Saturday, L.A. County reported 4,283 new cases. That is the highest number since January. Los Angeles is also still categorized as “high” on the CDC’s scale of transmission risk.
We have not seen immediate results from the newest mask mandate. However, many officials are still optimistic.
Although the numbers have kept rising, the rate at which they are rising has decreased. That offers some optimism that things will peak soon.
“Two and a half weeks ago, at the time of the Los Angeles County Health Officer Order requiring universal masking indoors, cases were doubling every 10 days; the much smaller increase the County is seeing now is what we hoped would happen after implementing an effective public health measure.” -Los Angeles Department of Public Health Statement
Vaccination Mandate
The City of Los Angeles is not happy with the progress in the fight against Delta. They are determined to do more. That is why they are in the process of requiring vaccines to enter most public indoor spaces.
Soon L.A. residents will need a negative test or proof of vaccination to enter restaurants, bars, gyms, concert venues, movie theaters, and retail stores.
Councilman Mitch O’Farrell offered insight into the thought process behind the newest mandate.
“COVID-19 could be eradicated if we had mass vaccinations across the country and across the world. Why on Earth is it OK in 2021 to have 30 plus people die in the county of Los Angeles from COVID over a three-day period, including an 11-year- old girl, when we have a vaccine that could have prevented all of that, accessible to everyone.”-Mitch O’Farrell
The county is still figuring out the specifics of how the mandate will work.
Vaccines Good But Not Perfect
The vaccine mandate is an extremely controversial topic in Los Angeles. Many people are not happy about segregating people based on vaccination status. Others feel that not getting vaccinated is selfish.
One thing that is not in doubt is that the vaccines are working.
Of the more than 5 million fully vaccinated L.A. residents, 15,628 have tested positive for Covid. That’s a rate of 0.31%
Final Thoughts
Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez made an interesting comment recently.
“If we ever want to get back to normal, to what Los Angeles was like pre-COVID, we need to stop the spread.”-Nury Martinez
Hearing a government official use the phrase “stop the spread” over a year into a pandemic is disheartening. It makes many people wonder if we are making progress at all.
The good news is that lockdowns seem extremely unlikely at this time. So there has been some real progress.
Mask and vaccine mandates are definitely not normal. But, they are closer to normal than lockdowns.
Hopefully, recent Covid measures will be effective so that we aren’t talking about “stopping the spread” in ten years.
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