L.A. County officially eased up on its pandemic travel advisory today, by allowing fully vaccinated travelers to skip the 10-day mandatory quarantine period upon arrival.
The revision mirrors CDC guidance issued last Friday, which says anyone who's fully vaccinated can safely travel within the U.S., though they must continue to wear masks and practice social distancing.
Both the CDC and L.A. County guidelines still discourage any nonessential travel, regardless of vaccination status.
That's to keep potentially dangerous variants, like the ones first found in the United Kingdom, Brazil, and South Africa, at bay, said County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer:
"While we have variants of concern here, we don't have them dominating, and we'd like to keep it that way ... because they're all three known to be more infectious viruses."
L.A. County's original 10-day quarantine policy was implemented on Dec. 30 – it was a mandatory directive ordering anyone traveling from outside the Southern California region to self-isolate. Some critics have pointed out, however, that there was never a plan for enforcement.
You can read the full travel advisory here.
A LOOK AT LOCAL COVID-19 NUMBERS:
Our news is free on LAist. To make sure you get our coverage: Sign up for our daily newsletters. To support our non-profit public service journalism: Donate Now.