The California city of Huntington Beach’s council voted to ban mask mandates and COVID vaccine mandates city-wide amid fears that the virus is beginning to rise again alongside flu and RSV warnings in a possible ‘tripledemic’.
While just 35 miles south of Los Angeles, Huntington Beach has a majority Republican mayor and city council, which pushed and voted for the ban. The town has voted for the GOP candidate for president in every election since 1964.
Mayor Pro Tem Gracey Van Der Mark introduced the bill to a large crowd of both supporters and detractors, with 116 people signed up to give public comment on the bill.
She declared the city to be ‘a no-mask, no-vaccine mandate city’ as the measure passed by a 4-3 party line vote.
There will be an exception to the rule, however, for anyone who has tested positive for COVID, who will be mandated to wear masks in certain settings.
The California city of Huntington Beach’s council voted to ban mask mandates and COVID vaccine mandates city-wide amid fears that the virus is beginning to rise again
‘The government unnecessarily limited the freedoms of the citizens of Huntington Beach – even those who were not around anyone who tested positive for COVID-19 or at risk of any exposure,’ Van Der Mark said.
She also said that private businesses would still be allowed to do whatever they wanted.
‘If a business would like to ask for people to wear masks and be vaccinated and show vaccine cards, they should be entitled to do so themselves,’ Van Der Mark said, ‘but that should not be imposed on every citizen.’
COVID cases have been on the rise in nearby Los Angeles County, as well as hospitalizations.
Councilman Dan Kalmick, a Democrat, said that the whole idea was pointless because there had been no threat of new mandates, according to ABC7.
‘There was no impetus for this. We’ve received no emails. This was strictly a political maneuver to rile folks up to gain support because these folks are losing support because of their very unpopular positions,’ Kalmick said.
The council also proposed, but later tabled, an amendment that would theoretically ban LGBTQ+ Pride flags – and all flags aside from the national, state, city and POW flags – from public buildings.
A giant pride flag was placed on the steps in front of the building by protesters, according to the LA Times.
Mayor Pro Tem Gracey Van Der Mark (pictured) introduced the bill to a large crowd of both supporters and detractors
She declared the city to be ‘a no-mask, no-vaccine mandate city’ as the measure passed by a 4-3 party line vote
The council previously voted to stop flying it on city property every June in honor of Pride Month.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned medical professionals the rising rates of respiratory syncitial virus, or RSV, in Florida and Georgia in recent weeks signal the start of the respiratory virus season.
And the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has advised healthcare workers to brace for what could be a ‘tripledemic’ of RSV, flu, and Covid-19 cases this winter.
Jill Biden tested positive for Covid for a second time Monday, prompting multiple rounds of tests on President Joe Biden, who continues to result negative.
As a precaution, the president, 80, wore a face mask for the first time in months as he went about his duties at the White House Tuesday.
However, he took it off during a Medal of Honor ceremony and did not put it back on – an act that encapsulated Americans’ fatigue with Covid masks.
The 72-year-old First Lady’s positive result is a reminder the virus that has been a backdrop issue for months is still disrupting people’s lives as cases are on the rise again and positivity rates have climbed as high as 20 percent in some parts of the US.
But Covid is no longer the deadly threat it once was. While hospital admissions involving the virus have been rising for weeks, they are still about 10 times lower than levels seen at the peak in January 2022 and deaths are about 40 times below the peak in late 2020.
At least 116 people were signed up to give public comment on the bill
Jill Biden tested positive for Covid for a second time Monday, prompting multiple rounds of tests on President Joe Biden , who continues to result negative
Many doctors now compare the virus to the common cold or the flu, which while disruptive and deadly among vulnerable groups, will not cause serious illness in the vast majority of people.
The transition from deadly virus to manageable seasonal illness can be attributed to the high levels of immunity among Americans from infection or vaccination, plus an arsenal of highly-effective therapies and drugs.
For these reasons the federal government declared the pandemic over in May this year and ended the public health emergency, scrapping legal requirements to mask, isolate, test and get vaccinated.