‘Dangerous’ coronavirus mask and glove litter has Los Angeles considering crackdown

People can’t seem to stop littering Los Angeles with used masks and gloves in the coronavirus pandemic, and city officials have had enough, LA Weekly reports.

The City Council on Tuesday directed sanitation officials to find ways to crack down on the problem, including possibly boosting fines, reported City News Service on KTTV.

“People are dropping these items on the ground because they believe they might be contaminated,” said council member Bob Blumenfield, according to LA Weekly.

“This littering is not only disrespectful to others, it is dangerous to others,” Blumenfield said, the publication reported. “Especially to the workers who end up cleaning up these contaminated items.”

He said the city needs to make clear that it’s “unacceptable to throw your gloves and masks willy-nilly on the ground,” City News Service reported.

California state law sets a maximum $1,000 fine for littering, raised to $1,500 for a second offense and $3,000 for subsequent offenses, according to the service. Fines in Los Angeles currently top out at $1,000.

Improperly disposed masks and gloves have been littering streets, sidewalks and parking lots in Los Angeles since the global pandemic reached the United States, KABC reported.

“It’s ridiculous because it’s hard to find those in the store, so they’re just throwing them out,” said resident Cherra Mack, according to the station.

Supermarket worker Rudy Galiani said customers regularly leave used gloves behind in shopping carts and baskets, KABC reported. “I pick up all the germs,” he said.

And it’s not just in Los Angeles. Mayor Bill de Blasio warned New Yorkers to stop dumping used personal protective equipment on streets and sidewalks, the New York Daily News reported.

“Don’t throw these things on the ground. It’s actually dangerous. It actually could put other people in harm’s way,” he said, according to the publication. “Look, we don’t like littering to begin with, but we especially don’t like littering when there might be a deadly virus on these gloves or masks.”

This story was originally published May 27, 2020 at 9:13 AM with the headline "‘Dangerous’ coronavirus mask and glove litter has Los Angeles considering crackdown."