This week will mark the end of indoor and outdoor mandates in Downtown Los Angeles leaving many unclear and still undecided when it comes to where, when and why the City recommends we still wear the mask.
Roughly three weeks ago, Super Bowl Sunday brought mask scandal across the country as Governor Newsom and two California Mayors showed no signs of fear enjoying the natural breathing process. Downtown wasn’t worried about Mayor Garcetti, who had already established he’d become a master at holding his breath, yet for the others, concern brought a tidal wave of fury from those who felt they were acting hypocritical, not alone putting themselves at risk by their own definition.
This led to more and more public discord as millions of consumers, business owners, parents and teachers across Los Angeles quickly began calling for an end to indoor and outdoor mask mandates. Stating clearly the drop in cases led the Covid induced emergency tiers to lose their weight.
Just two weeks after the Rams win, the mask mandate house of cards began to crumble. On March 1st, Gov. Gavin Newsom lifted California’s indoor mask mandate, followed by LA City lifting the indoor mask mandates March 4th and LA County lift scheduled for students on March 11.
Yet, despite the easing of mandates many have expressed they will still wear their mask. Local and state governments still mandate mask wearing inside its sponsored services and facilities indoor masks mandates will remain.
It seems however, for now, Downtown may look forward to a future of smiles – Here’s how the unmasking will work;
If a business or venue wants to permit fully vaccinated customers and visitors to unmask, then all customers and visitors must provide proof of vaccination or a negative test before entering.
In the past it was impossible to shop for groceries and clothing without being asked to wear a mask while Downtown, yet many didn’t require proof of vaccinated to enter, now they still wont.
Restaurants and bars varied in strictness, however, allowing most to enter with proof of vaccine only to make way for patrons to expose themselves to shared air while eating, drinking, using the bathroom or picking up food deliveries. All this, while overly crowded nightclubs and formally labeled ”superspreader” sporting events happily operated at your own risk.
So, will we wear the mask? Less often than before, depending where you go. Hotels are pretty lapse, while prestigious playhouses and award shows may ask not only for vaccine and booster proof, you may be asked to take a rapid test onsite.
Its pretty much going to be left in the hands of each individual business owner. Surely, they will provide the mask, unless they are sure the public will start carrying a mask in our wallets like a condom.
At Target you may be asked if you want a complimentary mask while shopping, may we suggest you ask for a complimentary scarf as well? its cold out here.
COVID-19 is a respiratory illness that typically causes mild to moderate illness, like the common cold, but can lead to dangerous complications. The virus that causes COVID-19 is a novel coronavirus that was first identified during an investigation into an outbreak in Wuhan, China and is now infecting people around the world. – CDC.