Attention concert-goers and NBA fans: Indoor events of 1,000 or more people are no longer required to check whether attendees are vaccinated against COVID-19 or are actively sick. Now it’s up to event organizers to decide whether to require masks and ask for a recent negative COVID test or proof of vaccination.
State health officials made the change April 1, as California gears up for a slate of summer conventions with tens of thousands of people.
The Los Angeles County Dept. of Public Health considers indoor mega events high risk because “the attendees are spending long periods of time physically close to large numbers of people they don't usually interact with, thereby increasing the risk that respiratory particles will be transmitted between attendees and participants if someone present is infected.”
Health officials “strongly recommend” that attendees wear masks indoors and get vaccinated or boosted, and say best practices include checking vaccination status or requiring a negative test.
And with baseball season about to start, masks are also no longer required at outdoor events.
Cal/OSHA rules require employers who permit optional masking to provide high quality masks, such as N95 or KN95, for employees who want to wear them. The masks must be replaced if they get dirty or after five uses, whichever comes first.
Nationwide, the BA.2 subvariant is causing cases to rise in New England. In much of the West, reports of new cases are declining, though the pace of improvement has slowed.
