The Los Angeles county department of public health has issued a new order stating that attendees of any major outdoor event will be required to wear a mask – regardless of Covid-19 vaccination status – due to a spike in Covid-19 cases.

From 23:59 on Thursday 19 August, the county’s order will apply to all events with more than 10,000 attendees, such as music or food festivals, car shows, large endurance events, marathons, parades, sporting events and concerts.

The order is to be enforced by the operators of any such event, both verbally and with visible signage at all entry points.

Masks are required to be worn by everyone at all times except when actively eating or drinking at these events, according to the order.

THE COUNTY ORDER COMES AFTER ORDERS ISSUED IN JULY, WHICH REINSTATED AN INDOOR MASK MANDATE FOR MOST PUBLIC SPACES

Head in the Clouds festival, which is set to take place at Brookside at the Rose Bowl 6–7 November is one of the few major music festivals scheduled to take place in LA for the remainder of 2021. But the order will also affect larger venues including the Hollywood Bowl, SoFi Stadium and the Banc of California Stadium, as well as sports venues.

The county order comes after orders issued in July, which reinstated an indoor mask mandate for most public spaces, applying to both major events (defined as those with 5,000 or more attendees) as well as smaller spaces such as restaurants, movie theatres and gyms.

The public health department said that the Delta variant of Covid-19, which is twice as contagious as earlier variants of the virus, is now predominant in LA county. On 16 August, the LA County Public Health reported 2,426 new cases of Covid-19, 1,653 current hospitalisations and five new deaths.

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