SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Eleven San Francisco Bay Area counties will lift their mask requirements for vaccinated people in most indoor public settings beginning February 16, when the state ends its indoor masking requirement for vaccinated people, officials announced Tuesday.
Unvaccinated people over age 2 will continue to be required to wear masks in all indoor public settings. Everyone will still have to wear a mask in schools, public transportation, nursing homes and other congregate living facilities, officials in the Bay Area counties said.
Santa Clara County, the most populous in the region with almost 2 million people, won't lift its mask mandate next week, said Dr. Sara Cody, the county's director of public health.
She said the county will lift its indoor mask mandate when COVID-19 hospitalizations in the jurisdiction "are low and stable" and the 7-day average of newly confirmed infection cases per day is at or below 550 for at least a week.
The Bay Area counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, Napa, San Benito, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma, and the City of Berkeley will lift universal mask requirements for most indoor public settings starting next Wednesday.
"We have weathered the worst of the omicron surge. But let's make no mistake: the pandemic is not over," said Dr. Sundari Mase, Sonoma County's Health Officer. "While wearing a mask indoors is no longer mandatory for people who are vaccinated, it remains a smart and simple way to protect yourself and the people around you."
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
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