This news comes after the CDC recommended indoor masks in areas of “high” and “substantial” transmission.
The California Department of Public Health updated its Guidance for Face Coverings yesterday, adding a new recommendation for “universal masking indoors statewide.” A recommendation is not a mandate, so masking up is not being enforced, but things may change among different counties in the coming days and weeks.
Statewide, unvaccinated individuals are still required to wear indoor masks. Currently, only Los Angeles and Yolo County require both unvaccinated and vaccinated individuals to do so.
The universal indoor mask recommendation comes as a result of the Delta variant, which accounts for over 80% of cases sequenced in California. This variant is twice as contagious as early Covid variants, and although vaccinated people are protected from having a severe case of Covid, they can still pass the virus to unvaccinated individuals.
The CDC put out a nationwide recommendation for indoor face coverings in areas of “high” and “substantial” transmission, and all Bay Area counties currently fall into one of those categories per the CDC’s map. The same goes for most counties across the state.
San Francisco is one of the most vaccine-willing cities in the US, with 75% of all San Franciscans having received at least 1 dose. That’s 84% of residents over 12 years old.
If you still need to get vaccinated, you can make an appointment or find a walk-in site at myturn.ca.gov or vaccines.gov.
Mask up, vax up, and stay safe, California!