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Even After You No Longer Have To Mask Up, Top South Coast Health Official Says Some Will Still Wear Them

An expert says the mask requirement may end when we hit herd immunity.

It’s been a year since the COVID-19 crisis hit us on the Central and South Coasts. Looking ahead, where will we be a year from now when it comes to masks? One of the region’s top public health officials believes they will still be common, but by choice.

Ventura County Public Health Officer Dr. Robert Levin believes the mask requirement will go away once we’ve reached her immunity through the combination of people who’ve had the virus, and vaccinations.

But, Dr. Levin believes even after masks are no longer required, some people will choose to continue using them on public transportation, or in supermarkets.

He cites what happened in Asia following the SARS outbreak a few years ago, noting that to this day many people still choose to wear masks in public settings.

Dr. Levin says despite many early objections, mask wearing in the United States has become the norm. He says some early skeptics eventually saw the value, especially as the scientific evidence of their usefulness mounted.

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral.