California will end mask mandate on Feb. 15, LA County will not align with state's changes
LOS ANGELES - California will end its statewide indoor mask mandate on Feb. 15, the office of Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday.
According to the governor's office, unvaccinated individuals will still be required to wear masks in indoor public settings.
Local governments can continue their own indoor masking requirements and last week Los Angeles County’s health officials said they intend to keep theirs in place beyond the state deadline.
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The state will also lift its requirement for guests to test negative for the virus prior to visiting nursing homes and hospitals, effective immediately.
RELATED: California extends mask mandate through Feb. 15
Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration brought back the masking mandate in mid-December as the omicron variant gained momentum, and last month extended it through Feb. 15. State health officials said Monday the mandate will end that day.
State officials also announced that Indoor "mega events" with more than 1,000 people will have to require vaccinations or negative tests for those attending and those who are unvaccinated will be required to wear masks. For outdoor events with more than 10,000 people, there is no vaccination requirement but masks or negative tests are recommended.
Those thresholds increase from the current 500 attendees for indoor and 5,000 attendees for outdoor events. The increased threshold comes after Sunday’s Super Bowl that will draw as many as 100,000 football fans to SoFi Stadium outside Los Angeles.
WHAT ABOUT LA COUNTY?
Currently, Los Angeles County is still under a mask mandate that affects all indoor public settings and outdoor "Mega Events" of more than 5,000 people.
Despite the state's new announcement, the Los Angeles County Public Health issued a statement Monday evening saying the county will not align with the state's stance on ditching the mask mandate after February 15. The Los Angeles County Public Health said COVID-19 transmission is still "high and substantial," as reasons to not follow the state's decision to soon parting ways with the mask mandate.
RELATED: Here's when LA County will drop its outdoor mask requirement
Last week, County Health Director, Dr. Barbara Ferrer said the county will consider itself out of the current COVID-19 surge when virus-related hospitalizations fall below 2,500 for seven straight days. Once that mark is reached, the county will no longer require masks at outdoor mega-events, such as football games, or in outdoor spaces at schools and child-care facilities.
Meanwhile, health officials say they are continuing to evaluate the masking requirement for schoolchildren.
LACo unveils criteria for lifting mask mandates, but it won't be anytime soon
With questions mounting about when Los Angeles County's mask-wearing mandate will end -- fueled in part by photos of football fans largely ignoring the requirement during Sunday's Rams game -- the public health director outlined metrics Thursday that will need to be met for masks to come off.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.