Beverly Hills Will Not Enforce County’s Indoor Mask Mandate

The City Council of Beverly Hills unanimously agreed not to enforce an indoor mask mandate should it return to Los Angeles County.

Beverly Hills falls under the jurisdiction of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LACDPH).

The City would be included in any new health order issued, but may or may not choose to utilize staff resources to enforce it.

“I feel it is our job to lead and I support the power of choice,” said Mayor Lili Bosse. “Our job is to be proactive and public about what we believe. This is a united City Council and community that cares about health. We are not where we were in 2020, and now we need to move forward as a community and be part of the solution.”

Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said she has seen no hard evidence that such a requirement would curb the spread.

In an open letter sent to her Fifth District constituents, Barger said she believes “masking mandates are polarizing and unenforceable,” and said she does not believe such a move would have any major impact.

“I have not seen any empirical data that conclusively shows that masking mandates make a difference in decreasing or stopping COVID-19 transmission rates,” Barger wrote. “An analysis of Alameda County’s June 2022 masking mandate, in fact, concluded it had no significant impact in comparison to its surrounding counties that did not impose a masking mandate. Alameda County dropped this mandate after only three weeks.”

She added that a mandate “will not make a meaningful improvement to the underlying systemic healthcare inequities that are the true drivers of inequitable rates of COVID-19 deaths and long-term, negative effects.”

Barger’s comments come just days ahead of an anticipated Thursday decision on a possible new masking mandate for indoor public spaces in Los Angeles County.

Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer has said that if the county remains in the “high” virus-activity level as defined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for two consecutive weeks, the mask mandate would be re-imposed. The county is set to reach that two-week mark on Thursday, meaning the mandate would take effect Friday.