In a major shift this week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control said people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can safely stop wearing face coverings in most indoor and outdoor situations, but Long Beach residents will have to keep their masks on—at least for now—as the city waits for California to decide whether it will adjust its rules, health officials said Friday.
California has not yet adopted the CDC’s new guidelines, and it’s not clear when the state will make changes. Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier this week said the state will eliminate its outdoor mask mandates when California fully reopens on June 15.
The city in a statement Friday said Long Beach will work with the California Department of Public Health before making any changes to local rules.
“Until the State Health Order changes, the City cannot amend its Health Order and Long Beach’s mask mandate remains in place, including for vaccinated individuals,” officials said, adding that the city will know more details in the coming days.
The revised CDC guidance was announced in response to repeated studies showing the effectiveness of the vaccines, offering people who have been inoculated a great deal of protection against infection or severe illness.
“Anyone who is fully vaccinated can participate in indoor and outdoor activities, large or small, without wearing a mask or physical distancing,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said.
The new CDC guidance does not completely drop mask recommendations for vaccinated people. Face coverings are still recommended in some settings, including planes and buses or in crowded settings such as hospitals.
So what are the rules in Long Beach?
Under California’s guidelines, fully vaccinated people do not have to wear masks outdoors except when attending crowded outdoor events, like live performances and festivals. Masks are required for unvaccinated people outdoors any time when physical distancing cannot be maintained.
Fully vaccinated residents can shed masks while indoors with other fully vaccinated people. But mask mandates remain in place for everyone working at or patronizing businesses, like grocery stores or retail shops.
Los Angeles County is also awaiting direction from the state. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said their local mask requirements won’t be changing until at least late next week, when state Occupational Health and Safety regulators meet to consider possible changes to worksite masking guidelines.
“I know people are going to be impatient now and they’re going to say, ‘No, time to get on this. Time to just eliminate all these requirements around masking,'” Ferrer said. “But that wasn’t the intent, I don’t think, of the CDC. I think CDC wrote in multiple places that people really do need to adhere to worker protections and state and local directives. It’s important for us to remember that we do need to protect workers, particularly those workers that are in essential work environments.”
City News Service contributed to this report.