Despite waves of COVID-19 and its associated restrictions continuing to decrease, this month will be the third March residents in Irvine and Orange County have experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. As the community tries to move toward a new normal, local leaders reflect on what the county has endured and examine if we are any better suited for the future.

On Thursday, March 3, the Orange County Health Agency reported 427 new COVID-19 cases, with 15 COVID-19 deaths. Over the last month, daily cases in Orange County have steadily declined – bringing forth updated mask guidance from the Centers for Disease Control, which states that unvaccinated people are now no longer required to wear a mask indoors.

Yet, even as COVID-19 restrictions subside, Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan said the end of the mask mandate should not mean COVID-19 is no longer a threat, and that masking is still recommended for everyone.

Speaking to Irvine Weekly via text message, Khan added that this move by the CDC should not be interpreted as the end of the pandemic, because COVID-19 is still a realistic danger to the community.

“The end of the mask mandate is by no means the mark of the end of the pandemic. I believe with many of our community members vaccinated, we are in a safer environment. However, in my opinion, the end of the mask mandate should be a call for the unvaccinated to get vaccinated to protect themselves and others,” Khan said. “What we’ve learned over the past two years and through data is that the vaccine has helped us minimize the effects of the virus as well as keep us from overwhelming our hospitals. But, I caution people from thinking the pandemic is over, I continue to urge our community to wear a mask when in large gatherings or around people they can’t verify to be vaccinated.”

Between February 22 and March 1, Irvine reported 256 new COVID-19 cases, with just over 2,900 throughout Orange County. Accumulatively, Orange County has reported 538,831 COVID-19 cases and 6,643 deaths.

In a statement, Dr. Clayton Chau, OC Health Care Agency (HCA) Director and County Health Officer, said, “While the state’s mandate has changed, we support the strong recommendation for masking to continue in all indoor settings as a way to prevent COVID-19 from spreading to people who are at high risk of getting infected. We are in a time now where we all need to assess our own risk as well as the risk of the people around us. The most vulnerable members of our community still rely on us who are healthy to do what we can to help protect them. These include children who are not yet eligible for the vaccine, people who are immunocompromised or have chronic health conditions, and people who get sick easily.”

Dr. Andrew Noymer, Epidemiologist and Associate Professor at UC Irvine, said while it’s a good thing that case rates are down, COVID-19 is a seasonal virus. 

“What I think people have to understand better is that we’re in a lull – we’ve seen this before. Last May, things were in a really good place and then the Delta wave came and knocked us back on our ass,” he said. “We may be in a nice little patch until November – we could be in for nine months of relatively good COVID-19 statistics – but COVID has not vanished.” 

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