Los Angeles County reinstated its indoor mask mandate this weekend as confirmed cases of the Delta variant rise on the one-year anniversary of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s order that closed down many schools.

The mask mandate went into effect at 11:59 pm on Saturday. 

On July 17, 2020, Newsom issued guidance for school reopenings during the pandemic, which stated that in-person learning would only be allowed if a number of criteria were met. At the time, the vast majority of the state’s public and private k-12 schools did not meet the measures that would have allowed in-person instruction to resume.

Critics of school closures noted that many families rely on the support provided by schools, including working parents. There have also been concerns about disruptions to social development and children falling behind their school curriculums.

In a Twitter post, Reopen California Schools said on Sunday that Newsom’s decision would go down as "one of the darkest times in California and U.S. history" as special interests were taken into consideration over children.

Republican assemblyman Kevin Kiley, who is one of the candidates running in the recall election to replace Newsom in September, said Newsom’s shutdown order did a lot of harm.

"You'd be hard-pressed to find any action by any governor that did more harm or for worse reasons," he said.