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Bay Area health officials are finalizing criteria for lifting indoor mask warrants and plan to release details by the end of the week – signaling the region may soon see the beginning of the end rules on indoor masks.
The criteria would be a shared set of measures that counties are expected to meet in order to ease restrictions, and would include local case rates, hospitalizations and vaccination rates, counties health officials from Contra Costa and counties said on Tuesday. of Santa Clara.
“We are in the process of finalizing this now,” Contra Costa County deputy health worker Dr Ori Tzvieli said in a COVID-19 update to county supervisors.
At least seven Bay Area counties – San Francisco, Napa, Sonoma, Marin and San Mateo in addition to Contra Costa and Santa Clara – are expected to be part of the announcement. Alameda County did not immediately respond to a question about its plans.
Each county could meet the measures at different times, meaning some counties could lift indoor mask warrants earlier than others.
Currently, all Bay Area counties except Solano require everyone – vaccinated or not – to wear masks indoors like gyms, grocery stores, and restaurants, except when people eat and drink. The policy went into effect in early August in an attempt to quell the surge in the delta. Solano requires that only unvaccinated people wear masks in these environments.
The Bay Area as a whole has one of the highest vaccination rates in the country. In the Bay Area’s six major counties – San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, San Mateo and Marin – between 81% and 87% of eligible residents aged 12 and over are fully immunized. Case rates and hospitalizations have declined in recent weeks after the delta surge that peaked in late summer. In Contra Costa County, for example, case rates and hospitalizations have fallen 35% and 27%, respectively, in the past two weeks.
“We have discussed this with the health workers in the region, and our intention and our plan is to develop a set of measures that we all share and which are common to the whole region as to when to lift the masking inside. “said Dr Santa Clara, county health official. Sara Cody told county supervisors Tuesday. “And we’re getting really close and hope to have an announcement with details by the end of the week.”
Tzvieli noted that even when indoor mask warrants are lifted, health officials will still recommend people to continue the practice as an added precaution.
“They won’t have to do this once we lift the order, but it’s still a good idea,” he said.
The regional action would not affect the masking inside hospitals and schools, which is required by the state. The state also requires unvaccinated people to wear masks indoors, but this has never really been enforced as it’s hard to tell who is vaccinated and who is not.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed said on Tuesday she hoped the city would ease its mandate as an indoor mask soon, at least in some settings like offices. Many people still work from home, where they don’t have to wear masks, and lifting indoor mask requirements would encourage them to return to the office, she said.
“Hopefully we’ll make some adjustments because I think it’s overdue,” Breed said. “I respect and follow the advice of my public health experts, but I think, especially in light of the number of people being vaccinated and the number going down, I think it’s appropriate and we’ll see what happens. “
Santa Clara County Supervisor Mike Wasserman told the board meeting that the “No. 1 question” he is asked is when people will be able to “go without a mask.”
“I look forward to the measures you are proposing, because I suspect that Santa Clara County will be in all of these measures,” he said. “I think as soon as these measures are established, we will qualify and we can finally go without a mask. I hope this situation is something that will happen in the next few weeks.
Chronicle editors Trisha Thadani and Erin Allday contributed to this report.
Catherine Ho is a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @Cat_Ho
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