The Los Angeles County Sheriff on Saturday, July 17 criticized the decision of local authorities to reintroduce the obligation to wear a mask indoors, including for those vaccinated, and warned that he would not enforce it.
To read also: Dr Barucq: "The return of the mask outdoors, an absurd and infantilizing measure"
"
Forcing people who are vaccinated or have already had Covid-19 to wear a mask indoors is not science-based and contradicts the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
" writes the Sheriff Alex Villanueva in a statement.
Stressing that its services "
are underfunded
", he added that he "would
not devote their limited resources
" to enforce this instruction and would simply rely on the goodwill of the inhabitants of the Californian metropolis.
The measure, motivated by a deterioration of the health situation, is to come into force on Saturday at midnight in Los Angeles County, which includes the city of 4 million inhabitants and its surroundings.
"
The county is not where it should be
" in terms of vaccinations, had justified its health official, Doctor Muntu Davis by announcing the decision.
More than 1,900 new cases of Covid-19 were identified on Friday, a level not reached since March, according to official figures.
452 people are currently hospitalized in the county, twice as many as a month ago.
US health officials announced in mid-May that vaccinated Americans could say goodbye to masks - both outdoors and indoors.
But despite doses of vaccines widely available to all, the US immunization campaign has slowed sharply after peaking in early April.
And concern is growing about the increase in Covid-19 cases, mainly due to the Delta variant, although the vast majority of positive cases - and hospitalizations - involve unvaccinated people.
