L.A. General's Chief Medical Officer Pours Ice Cold Water On Barbara Ferrer's New Mask Mandate

On Friday, December 29, LA County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer sneakily issued a mask mandate for healthcare facilities in the county, saying that the county had entered the CDC's "medium" level for COVID admissions, which triggered the change. At the time of publication, the link to the order itself was not working; the Department of Public Health claims that it's due to a server problem causing the link to not work on certain devices (apparently, the devices of journalists are particularly hard-hit). But screenshots of it can be found here. The Health Officer Order was originally issued in September 2023 and related to requirements for healthcare workers to have a current flu shot and COVID booster or mask during the upcoming "respiratory virus season." The December 27 revision cites the "ongoing risk" posed by COVID-19 as part of the justification and orders visitors to be masked as well.

Curiously, the Department issued a press release on December 28 titled "Continued Increases In COVID-19 Transmission, Hospitalizations Indicate Need for Common-Sense Protections Against Infection" that didn't mention the revision to the existing Health Order that allegedly went into effect the day before. No press release was issued when the county reportedly went into the CDC's Medium Level on December 29, triggering the mandate's implementation. Dr. Brad Spellberg, Chief Medical Officer at Los Angeles General Medical Center (formerly LA County/USC Medical Center), the county's largest hospital, poured ice-cold water on Barbara Ferrer, Ph.D.'s hysteria. In his "Soothing Thoughts" segment during LA General's weekly update, Spellberg made these very important points:

• LA General is not seeing COVID pneumonia ICU admissions or intubations
• LA General no longer performs COVID tests on admission
• Other hospitals in the county continue to COVID test on admission, leading to artificially inflated COVID hospitalization rates
• COVID is not going to go away; it is now an endemic virus and "does not distinguish itself from other upper respiratory viruses"
• There is community COVID spread because COVID is a winter virus
• COVID levels at LA General are "considerably" below 2022 and with much milder disease

• More at: RedState - L.A. General's Chief Medical Officer Pours Ice Cold Water on Barbara Ferrer's New Mask Mandate
https://redstate.com/jenvanlaar/2024/01/03/video-top-doctor-at-la-county-medical-center-says-new-mask-mandates-n2168252