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With cases of the highly contagious COVID-19[female[feminine A variant of the rapidly growing Delta, a coalition of Bay Area County health officials urged vaccinated local residents to once again wear masks indoors in public places.
The measure is voluntary and takes place after Los Angeles County said its residents will be required to wear masks indoors, regardless of their vaccination status, from Saturday evening.
The plea was released locally on Friday by health officials from Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Sonoma counties, and the city of Berkeley, reports CBS SF Bay Area.
“We ask our residents to come together again in this effort to stem the increase in cases until we can assess the impact on our hospital capacity,” said Dr Susan Philip, head of health at San Francisco.
“The Delta variant is spreading quickly and everyone should take steps to protect themselves and others from this potentially deadly virus,” said Dr Nicholas Moss, Alameda County health official.
For the first time since January, COVID-19 infections are on the rise in all 50 states. New cases over the past week have increased 69%, while hospitalizations have increased 36% and deaths have increased 26%, Michael George reported for “CBS This Morning: Saturday.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say unvaccinated Americans are behind the numbers, accounting for nearly all deaths and nearly all hospitalizations.
“99.5% of all deaths from COVID are unvaccinated people,” said Dr Anthony Fauci. “This is a very, very striking statistic that should make people understand why it is so important to get the vaccine.”
Doctors say people who are vaccinated have a high level of protection against the Delta variant, but masks are still important in preventing the virus from spreading to others.
Bay Area officials said recommending masks for places like retail stores, grocery stores, and theaters was overly cautious. It is recommended even for those vaccinated “as an extra layer of protection for unvaccinated residents,” officials said.
“Businesses are urged to adopt universal masking requirements for customers entering interior areas of their businesses to provide better protection for their employees and customers,” the statement continued.
In San Jose, Sushi Confidential owner Randy Musterer said he was not yet sure what he would demand of his customers or employees after Friday’s announcement.
“It’s unfortunate that maybe we will back down again,” Musterer said. “We were hoping we came out of the pandemic, especially here in the Bay Area – approaching herd immunity. “
Bay Area health workers will revisit this recommendation in the coming weeks as they continue to monitor transmission rates, hospitalizations, deaths and increasing vaccination rates across the region.
In San Francisco, cases are increasing among the unvaccinated. Blacks and Latinos are getting vaccinated at a lower rate than others and the Mayor of London Breed has urged them to get the shot. She said Thursday that everyone hospitalized with COVID-19 at San Francisco General Hospital is not vaccinated and most are African American.
San Francisco supervisor Shamann Walton said the largest number of cases are in the Bayview district, a largely black neighborhood, “because we are not doing everything we can to protect each other. . It’s a cry to my community… We need you to get vaccinated. “
San Francisco has one of the highest overall vaccination rates in the nation’s most populous state. At least 83% of residents 12 years of age and older received at least one dose.
The word that Bay Area health officials are once again asking people to put their masks inside, regardless of their vaccination status, is a disappointment to many.
“I feel like we’ve just gotten back to normal and asking vaccinated people to put their masks back on, I think, isn’t fair,” Campbell’s Ashtyn Civelli said.
Santa Clara County has one of the highest vaccination rates of any major county in the country, with 76% now fully vaccinated. Even there the virus and its variants are spreading.
“Unfortunately, even though we have very high vaccination rates and the great protection it provides, we are still seeing our case rates increase,” said Dr. Sarah Rudman, Assistant Health Officer.
Rudman said cases are still well short of the winter wave but have tripled in recent weeks.
“Especially among the unvaccinated population and those who are not yet eligible, including our younger population,” she said.
Rudman said the recommendation is a way to ensure unvaccinated people wear their masks.
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