As families and friends in California gather for the holidays, they may want to put on a mask to control the spread of COVID-19, RSV and seasonal flu, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this week.
With the spread of COVID-19, RSV and seasonal flu surging in California, along with lagging vaccination rates, masking up is one of the best ways Americans can protect themselves, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the CDC director, said Monday in a call with reporters.
Coronavirus cases plummeted in early fall, and California relaxed its mask guidance and ceased requiring face coverings in most public settings with the exception of high-risk settings such as hospitals, doctor’s offices and nursing homes. However, COVID-19 cases began skyrocketing across the state in late November and early December, and some regions such as Los Angeles are on track to see a possible return to mandatory indoor masking before the year’s end.
In fact, Los Angeles County daily case rates are on track to match levels not seen since the winter surge of 2021. On Wednesday, Los Angeles County reported more than 5,000 new cases, matching the daily average for the entire state in mid-November.
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