Moving Beyond the Pandemic

by Maria S. Salinas

This month, L.A. County Public Health Department signaled they were considering a reinstatement of the mask mandate, a move which would devastate businesses already struggling to emerge from the pandemic. Over the past two years, the business community has been instrumental in containing the spread of COVID-19, by promoting workplace safety precautions, complying with public health orders, and supporting access to vaccinations in underserved communities. We appreciate the efforts of the Board of Supervisors and L.A. County Public Health to provide access to vaccines and testing, and we will continue to support sensible COVID policies.

But it’s time to recognize that COVID-19 will not be eliminated completely, and we must shift from pandemic to endemic strategies. Businesses are already contending with supply chain issues and workplace shortages. Asking them to enforce a mask mandate with these ongoing challenges would be a major step backward.

We joined the Central City Association (CCA) in sharing our strong concerns about a potential new mask mandate in L.A. County. Highlights from our letter:

“Business owners and operators report that an indoor mask mandate would be nearly impossible to enforce at this time. Requiring masks puts employees in the increasingly challenging position of enforcing a mandate that many customers no longer wish to – or are unwilling to – comply with.

L.A.’s [businesses] are working every day to recover from the pandemic, all while facing workforce shortages, supply chain challenges and more…Businesses cannot shoulder this burden of compliance alone as they have been required to do so in the past."

We can’t keep fighting COVID with the same strategies we used two years ago. Our communities, economy, and public health system have evolved. We need policies which adapt to the reality of an environment where most are vaccinated and making personal decisions to wear masks. We will continue to advocate with the L.A. County Public Health Department for responsible COVID policies that recognize the importance of maintaining our economic recovery.