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Health

LA County Not Ready To Totally Ditch Masks — Yet

People walk on the beach, some wearing masks.
(
Apu Gomes
/
AFP via Getty Images
)

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now says fully vaccinated people can safely resume many indoor activities without a mask, but Los Angeles County health officials say: not so fast.

The county won't revise its current masking requirements until at least next week, when regulators with Cal/OSHA, the state's workplace safety division, are expected to revisit their temporary COVID-19 safety standards.

The agency is weighing whether to relax its requirements on mask-wearing and social distancing at worksites, as long as employees are fully vaccinated.

County public health director Barbara Ferrer says the current rules also apply to customers going into workplaces, like grocery stores or other businesses:

"Until there's been a change in that, it's really important for us not to jump the gun and create an unintended consequence where we're creating risk where we didn't need to,” she said.

L.A. County updated its mask guidelines two weeks ago to reflect state and federal recommendations that allow fully vaccinated people to go mask-free outside, unless they're in a crowded space.

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