![]() ![]() RODRIGUEZ, JULIET WILLIAMS and ROBERT JABLON, Associated Press Chris Farnitano said that while local cases have gone up since Thanksgiving, the county has one of the highest vaccination rates in the state, and hospitalizations are far below levels seen during the past summer, as well as those in many other counties.OLGA R. “None of it makes sense,” Zachreson said, suggesting Newsom was showing favoritism to San Francisco, where he once served as mayor.Ĭontra Costa County Health Officer Dr. ![]() The exceptions for the few Bay Area counties drew some sarcasm on Twitter from Jonathan Zachreson, of Roseville, a parent activist who has criticized the state’s school closures and masks requirements during the pandemic. State health officials said COVID-19 cases have increased 47% and hospitalizations 14% since Thanksgiving as the highly contagious delta variant continues to spread and the even more transmissible omicron variant gains a foothold. Several counties in October reinstated the requirement, citing rising cases and concerns about worsening outbreaks over the winter. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in May that the vaccinated no longer needed to mask up in most indoor public settings, with the exception of public transit, schools, shelters, prisons and jails and health care facilities, California kept its rule in place through June 15 of this year. Gavin Newsom first announced a statewide requirement for everyone to wear face coverings in indoor public settings in June 2020. 2, said it would now comply with the state’s indoor mask requirement for all. Marin County, which met the criteria and lifted its indoor mask mandate Nov. San Francisco, Alameda and Contra Costa counties then subsequently added the exception for fully vaccinated people in gyms and workplaces. In early August, seven of the nine Bay Area County health departments reinstated indoor mask mandates that could only be changed if certain criteria were met regarding local case rates, hospitalizations and vaccination rates. “This refinement acknowledges the hard work of the people of San Francisco throughout the pandemic, including the ways in which we have maintained reasonable protections heading into the holiday season,” San Francisco’s Department of Public Health said in a statement late Tuesday.Īlameda County Department of Public Health public information manager Neetu Balram added that county residents “will not experience any differences in policy.”Ĭontra Costa County said because of its local rule, “the new statewide masking mandate doesn’t affect us and we will retain limited exceptions for certain indoor settings not open to the general public such as offices and gyms where everyone is vaccinated.” The dueling mask rules come as the Golden State is experiencing a bump in new COVID-19 cases and bracing for a possible new wave of infections from the highly contagious omicron variant. Local rules will remain in place in San Francisco, Alameda and Contra Costa counties, which already had orders that allowed masks to come off indoors in certain controlled settings with a small, stable group of fully vaccinated people - such as workspaces and gyms. But the state is cutting breaks in some cases to a few Bay Area counties for those who have had the shots. Starting Wednesday, California once again is requiring everyone from toddlers on up to wear face masks in all indoor public settings - regardless of vaccination against COVID-19.
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