Category: Barbara Ferrer

City of Torrance Votes ‘No Confidence’ in LA County Public Health Director

TORRANCE, Calif.—City officials passed a vote of no confidence in Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer Aug. 9, saying the restrictions she imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic had violated people’s freedom and hurt businesses in the city. The council voted 4–1 in favor of the item brought forward by Councilman Aurelio Mattucci, with…


LA County Opts Against Reinstating Indoor Mask Mandate

LOS ANGELES—Citing continued downward trends in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, Los Angeles County scrubbed plans July 28 to re-impose a universal indoor mask-wearing mandate that would have taken effect the next day. Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer told reporters in an online briefing that the county’s average daily number of new COVID cases over the…


New Omicron Sub-Variant Proliferating Globally, LA County Officials on High Alert

A new sub-variant of Omicron detected in California a few weeks ago is now proliferating in Europe and Asia, and Los Angeles County health officials worry that the new strain could lead to a new COVID surge in the county. BA.2, known as the “Stealth Omicron,” is one of the four Omicron sub-variants. The recent…


LA County Ends Mask Mandate for Outdoor Mega Events, Schools Outdoors

Los Angeles County will lift its mask mandate for outdoor mega-events and for outdoor K–12 schools and childcare centers on Feb. 16—just days after many Super Bowl LVI attendees, including Mayor Eric Garcetti, went unmasked. On Feb. 16, COVID-19 hospitalizations in the county will fall below 2,500 for the seventh consecutive day—reaching the benchmark previously…


LA County to End Mask Mandate for Outdoor Mega Events, Schools Outdoors

Los Angeles County will lift its mask mandate for outdoor mega-events and for outdoor K–12 schools and childcare centers on Feb. 16—just days after many Super Bowl LVI attendees, including Mayor Eric Garcetti, went unmasked. On Feb. 16, COVID-19 hospitalizations in the county will fall below 2,500 for the seventh consecutive day—reaching the benchmark previously…


Ferrer: LA County Not Ready to Lift Indoor Mask Mandate Feb. 15

As Los Angeles County will not follow the state’s guideline to lift the mask mandate for vaccinated individuals next week, the county’s Department of Public Health outlined the criteria to drop masks in the coming weeks, if not months.  On Feb. 7, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that vaccinated people don’t need to wear masks indoors starting Feb. 15…


SoCal COVID Waning; New CA Bill Introduced to Allow Schools to See Who’s Vaccinated

LOS ANGELES—As the winter Omicron surge subsides, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health updated the mask compliance requirement for the post-surge period while a new state bill was introduced on Feb. 4 to grant schools access to students’ COVID-19 vaccination records. On Feb. 4, Los Angeles County reported 15,427 new COVID-19 cases and…