How quickly will Los Angeles adjust to the new CDC masking guidelines?

Photo by Michael Jin on Unsplash

The new CDC masking guidelines produced a lot of confusion. 

It was a significant change that caught everyone off-guard. Local and state officials, as well as local businesses, are scrambling to adjust. 

So what does all this mean for Los Angeles?

It’s important to remember that CDC guidelines are suggestions, not laws. States and businesses are not obligated to follow the new guidelines. 

Los Angeles politicians and businesses will have to come up with a plan quickly. 

Los Angeles County Supervisor

For anyone hoping that Los Angeles County will change the mask rules quickly, there is some bad news. 

Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger makes it clear that L.A. County can’t ease restrictions until the state of California does. 

That is why she sent a letter to Governor Newsom expressing her support for dropping mask requirements for vaccinated people. 

In the letter, she pointed out that:

“Los Angeles County has made tremendous progress vaccinating residents, including those in our hard-hit communities. Furthermore, our positivity rate is less than 1% and our case rate remains low.”-Kathryn Barger

Hollywood

Hollywood productions will not be changing their mask rules yet.

Workplaces are different. They must continue to follow distancing and masking guidelines until the rules change. The rules won’t change until the Cal/OSHA standards board meets on May 20th. 

Hollywood protocols are also agreed upon as part of labor negotiations. So that’s another hurdle Hollywood will have to clear before unmasking at work. 

Florida Theme Parks

The State of Florida is generally ahead of California when it comes to lifting Covid restrictions. 

One example of this is the rules surrounding theme parks. Universal Studios Orlando has been open for months. Universal Studious Hollywood reopened last month. 

The same goes for Disney properties. Disney World closed for 116 days before reopening in July. Disneyland didn't reopen until last month.  

It seems like Florida theme parks will be ahead of the curve again. 

Both Universal Orlando and Disney world announced that masking outdoors is now optional. 

Universal Orlando and Disney World both announced Friday that guests will no longer be required to wear masks while outdoors starting Saturday.

Masks will still be required indoors and on all rides. 

Optional masking outdoors may be the direction California theme parks are headed. But, we won’t know for a few weeks at the least. 

My Thoughts 

The new CDC guidelines make it virtually certain that things will change. 

However, change won’t come quickly. Los Angeles, and California as a whole, have been consistently slower than the rest of the country to adjust. 

I see no reason this will be any different. 

There is also the fact that it would be challenging to have different sets of rules for vaccinated and unvaccinated people. I suspect that is a political minefield many Los Angeles businesses won’t be eager to take on. 

Regardless of the slow speed of change, we are still headed in the right direction. We are headed towards an end to this pandemic. 

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