Los Angeles returns to the use of the mask indoors before the advance of the delta variant

Nurse Leslie García injects a patient in Los Angeles on June 25. MARIO TAMA / AFP

The delta variant advances and the vaccination rate stagnated.

Those are the factors that have led authorities in Los Angeles, the most populous city in the western United States, to recommend the use of the mask indoors in public places regardless of whether people have been vaccinated or not.

On June 15, Governor Gavin Newsom announced the reopening of California and proclaimed with great fanfare the end of the mandatory mask for the immunized.

Not two weeks have passed since the politician asked to turn the page, but the coronavirus has the last word.

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County medical authorities have asked to wear the mask in supermarkets, stores, movie theaters, theaters and workplaces. They also believe that it is better to use it in public places where it is not known if the assistants are vaccinated or not. This, at least, until experts "better understand how and between whom the delta variant is transmitted," said a statement issued on Monday. "Everyone should focus on maximum protection with the least disruption to our routines at the same time that businesses operate with restrictions such as social distancing and capacity restrictions," the document adds.

The State has so far detected 123 cases of the delta variant, which has been considered up to two times more contagious than other mutations. The majority, 110 patients, in people who were not vaccinated. A dozen tested positive despite having two doses of the vaccine, but no one among those infected needed hospital care. The remaining three cases are from people who had only one vaccine.

The vaccination rate is one of the indicators that most concerns those in charge of managing the pandemic. More than 41.4 million vaccines have been administered in the state. Three out of every five people in the state have received at least one of the two doses. Health authorities say that immunized people have better protection against variants, including delta. "This is a pandemic for people who haven't been vaccinated," Barbara Ferrer, Los Angeles' Health Officer, said Thursday.

The message from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, an area with a population of 10 million people or as many as 12 if you add residents of neighboring counties, has been a blow to the festive tone of Newsom's message. The suggestion has not yet become an order, but it is a clear sign of concern in a region that was the gateway to the virus and one of the worst epicenters of the epidemic in the United States, affecting mainly Latinos and African Americans.

The number of hospitalized is growing.

There are currently 1,272 people admitted throughout the State, of 40 million inhabitants.

The general trend in hospitalizations has been downward when compared to previous months, the worst since March 2020, but represents an increase of 4.4% compared to two weeks ago.

In Los Angeles County, the change from one day to the next has been 23 patients, an increase of 8%.

Newsom's announcement has triggered a relaxation in a battle that is far from over.

State authorities have reported 762 new cases and five new deaths this Tuesday.

In California, the virus has killed 63,000 people.

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