Los Angeles school district lifts outdoor mask mandate as Covid cases continue to decline

Los Angeles, Feb 23 (IANS) The Los Angeles Unified School District, the second-largest school system in the US, lifted its outdoor mask mandate for students and staff as Covid-19 cases continued to decline in the country’s most populous county.

“In alignment with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and with guidance from our medical director and health partners, outdoor masking will be optional for all individuals in Los Angeles Unified schools from February 22, 2022,” said the school district in a statement posted on its website on Tuesday.

The indoor mask mandate still remains in place for the school district’s students and staff on campus, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Los Angeles Unified School District is home to more than 640,000 students in kindergarten through class 12 at more than 1,000 schools. The district covers 710 square miles (1,839 square km) and includes the city of Los Angeles as well as all or parts of 31 smaller municipalities plus several unincorporated sections of Los Angeles County.

Los Angeles County relaxed its mask mandate on Wednesday, recommending but no longer requiring masking at outdoor mega events and exterior areas of K-12 schools and childcare centres. The county, home to more than 10 million residents, crossed a grim milestone of losing more than 30,000 residents to Covid-19 last week.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health on Monday reported 1,345 new cases with 21 new related deaths. The department confirmed 43,091 new cases and 65 additional deaths on January 21 amid a winter spike in new cases fueled by the highly contagious Omicron variant.

The county’s public health officials anticipated that with continued steep declines in case numbers indicating much lower transmission, they will be able to safely lift indoor mask mandates in mid-March.

–IANS

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