LOS ANGELES: Despite California's lifting of its indoor masking requirements in public settings, Los Angeles County, the country's most populous county, will maintain its mask mandate.

"California's statewide indoor mask mandate will expire on February 15. In public places, unvaccinated people must still wear masks "California's Governor's Office declared Monday evening, citing the Covid- Since the peak of Omicron, the number of cases of 19 infections had dropped by 65 percent.

School students and those in high-risk places, such as public transportation and nursing homes, will still be forced to wear masks, according to the state authority. According to reports, the Los Angeles County believes that the current scenario does not match two conditions that it outlined before in order to ease its mask requirements in the next weeks and months.

"This is not the time to cease wearing our masks when we are with others indoors or in crowded outdoor situations," said Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles County Public Health Department.

The county will suspend mask requirements for outdoor big events, as well as outdoor spaces at child-care settings and K-12 schools, once coronavirus-positive hospitalizations decrease below 2,500 for seven consecutive days, according to the Los Angeles Times.

China will continue to experience snow and rain in the coming days

Iran's top leader demands retaliation against Western media

'Zero Covid-19' strategy most appropriate for Hong Kong's current situation: Carrie Lam