Mask Mania in LA: Did Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer Retire?

The LA Times reported Thursday that mask mandates are likely returning to Los Angeles on July 29–but did rogue Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer just walk that back a little in her press conference Thursday afternoon? Although she is a little bit of an unidentified figure, and wants to hide as many people as possible, RedState has been putting pressure on her and asking questions about her decisions.

The disagreements among health professionals in L.A. County are now open to the public. Today’s column for the Southern California News Group: https://t.co/9wH77krQr5

— Susan Shelley (@Susan_Shelley) July 21, 2022

Ferrer is not a lady who usually offers anything resembling a glimmer of hope, but on Thursday, she uncharacteristically said:

…should we start seeing steep declines in our [case] numbers next week, because we know hospitalizations are this lagging indicator, we are likely to want to take a pause on moving too quickly on indoor universal masking. If our cases begin to decline rapidly, then it is likely that hospitalizations will also decline. (Emphasis mine. )

This isn’t the Barbara Ferrer that we love and know. Continued she:

You all look at the same numbers I do. As you can see, we are at the edge of medium and high. If we are able to get our cases numbers down, it won’t take long to bring us back to the medium level community.

She also mentioned wastewater numbers.

We may see a decrease or a plateau at some plants serving the west portion of the county.

Wastewater Testing can prove to be an invaluable resource, as many are currently testing their water at home without reporting it to the authorities. Wastewater don’t lie.

RedState closely followed the Ferrer story. On Wednesday, Jennifer Van Laar exposed the previously-undisclosed fact that Barbara Ferrer’s daughter was a co-author of the study that both the CDC and the LA County Health Department used to justify mask mandates. Jennifer Oliver O’Connell continued the story with the tale of an underground moms’ group that exposed Ferrer’s plans to reinstate mandates against medical data.

Wait! There’s more. Yours truly shared a leaked email that showed LA County Health had already given marching orders for mask enforcers. Cameron Arcand also showed Barbara Ferrer at All-Star Game, wearing a mask and moving around as if it were Mardi Gras-despite claiming we are in a COVID “high-concern” environment.

Phew. Ferrer truly is the gift that never stops giving.

Businesses are, however, also feeling the heat. A group of LA County businesses pleaded for the cancellation of the mandate on Thursday after small to medium-sized companies suffered a lot during mask mandates and lockdowns in the City of Angels.

“This is not a debate about choosing between lives and livelihoods,” Tracy Hernandez, founding CEO of the Los Angeles County Business Federation, or BizFed, said in a statement. This is about helping Angelenos make informed decisions about their own health and that of our region to weather the latest outbreak. We can do better than a heavy-handed mandate at this stage of pandemic recovery and endemic recalibration.”

Those who live in blue states are reading this thinking “who cares?” Think again. The California idiots deserve the worst. Look out for Illinois Governor J. if Ferrer succeeds in reinstating mask mandates. B. Pritzker, Michigan’s Governor Gretchen Whitmer and California’s Governor Gavin Newsom should all be paying attention. In no time, they’ll tell you to cover up.

So Far, LA County’s business community, children, and parents have resisted the new mandate for masks. Is there anyone else?

— Julie Hamill (@hamill_law) July 21, 2022

We can only hope the pressure from businesses, media like RedState and Fox News’ Bill Melugin, Susan Shelley at the LA Daily News, and others have forced Barbara Ferrer to re-consider, and we can hope that her statements today signal a walk back from her usual gloom, doom, and mask approach. Los Angeles, and most importantly our children cannot again suffer the same trauma since COVID was introduced. We will continue fighting for the removal of mask mandates.

Because if we have one certainty about these “authorities”, it is that if they receive one mandate, they will shortly get another.