L.A. County Readies for Reopening

On Tuesday, Los Angeles County and the rest of California will reopen the economy after nearly 15 months of varying public health restrictions.Beginning June 15, masking guidelines and social distancing requirements will be amended to reflect recommendations from the CDC.Fully vaccinated individuals will not be required to wear masks in most places and limits on capacity or physical distancing for businesses will be scaled back. Workers will still be required to wear masks indoors unless all workers are vaccinated.Businesses can still set their own rules when it comes to masking up and can require proof of vaccination. Additionally, regardless of vaccination status, masks will be required within the following settings:Public transit and in transportation hubs;>Indoors in K-12 schools, child care and other youth settings;>Health care settings, including long-term care facilities;>Correctional facilities and detention centers;>And homeless shelters, emergency shelters and cooling centers.The guidance is subject to change, as the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board will soon address a proposal that would allow vaccinated workers to stop wearing masks on the job. The proposal could potentially go into effect near the end of June.“The remaining public health safety measures of appropriate masking is critically important to protect those who are unvaccinated,” Barbara Ferrer, L.A. County public health director, said in a statement. “We urge everyone who is unvaccinated to continue to wear their mask while at indoor public settings and businesses and when at outdoor mega events.”Mega events are defined as crowds greater than 5,000 indoors or 10,000 outdoors.For indoor mega events, attendees will need to produce verification of being fully vaccinated or a pre-entry negative test conducted within 72 hours of an event’s start time. For outdoor mega events, full vaccination verification and pre-entry negative tests are strongly recommended.