Los Angeles County has issued a new order requiring attendees at all major outdoor events to wear a face mask.

The directive comes as coronavirus cases in the US continue to rise, with the county reporting 2,907 new cases yesterday (August 17, via the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health).

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The order, which you can read in full here, comes into force in the county tomorrow (August 19) at 11:59pm, and will apply to both indoor and outdoor major events (5,000 minimum capacity for indoor, 10,000 minimum for outdoor).

Attendees must “wear face masks at all times, except when actively eating or drinking,” the order states, with the latter point defined as “the limited time during which the mask can be removed briefly to eat or drink, after which it must be immediately put back on”.

“As the highly infectious Delta variant continues to spread, wearing masks — regardless of vaccination status — indoors and in crowded settings, including at outdoor mega events, reduces the risk of being infected with and transmitting COVID-19,” the Department of Public Health said in a statement yesterday.

Earlier this month New York City officials announced that attendees at gigs, film screenings, Broadway shows and more in the city will need to show proof of their COVID vaccination status from September in order to gain entry.

In the UK, concert promoter Live Nation confirmed this week that all gig-goers at their events will need to show evidence of full vaccination against COVID-19 or a negative test.