[ad_1]
Santa Clara County has led the way in lifting health ordinances that require face coverings in most indoor public places.
Public health officials announced Thursday that nine Bay Area jurisdictions can withdraw their indoor mask warrants under certain conditions.
“Where possible, our goal was to adopt a measure that was easy for the public to follow,” said Dr. Sara Cody, Santa Clara County Public Health Officer.
To be eligible, a jurisdiction must remain in the moderate COVID-19 transmission level for three weeks; COVID-19-related hospitalizations must be low and stable, and 80% of the jurisdiction must be fully vaccinated. Alternatively, a jurisdiction can lift the warrant eight weeks after a COVID-19 vaccine has been cleared for emergency use by federal and state authorities for 5 to 11 year olds.
As of Thursday, 84.2% of Santa Clara County residents over the age of 12 were fully immunized and 89% of eligible residents have at least one dose. The seven-day average for new cases is 159.
According to Cody, 72.4% of the entire county population, including those 11 and under, is fully vaccinated.
“As a region, our public by and large has embraced the COVID prevention measures we’ve talked about and asked everyone to do,” Cody said. “And because of that, our rates are pretty low. We had a fourth wave, but it was relatively blunt compared to the experience of other parts of the state and the country. “
Cody explained that the county is updating its COVID-19 public dashboard to show the percentage of the total population that is vaccinated. And when it comes to judging whether hospitalizations are low and stable, it is at the discretion of the public health worker.
“It’s not the one you’re going to be able to track on our public dashboard,” Cody said. “It has a lot to do with the capacity of the jurisdiction… In Santa Clara County our (hospital) capacity is pretty strong. This metric will therefore be quite easy for us to achieve. “
Santa Clara County, Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Sonoma and the City of Berkeley established indoor mask warrants, regardless of vaccination status, in early August following a increase in new infections due to the Delta variant of COVID-19.
“People have been asking me about (the mask’s warrant) for two weeks now. It’s been a mystery, but it’s good that we have an answer now… These are reasonable steps, ”said George Rutherford, professor of epidemiology at UC San Francisco, in the San José Spotlight. “It’s good that they are also adding the metric on the moderate COVID transmission level for three weeks, that means we won’t be jumping back and forth.”
The lifting of the indoor mask mandate does not prevent businesses, nonprofits, churches or others with indoor public spaces from imposing their own demands. The federal government still requires people using public transportation to wear masks, and passengers will not be allowed to board ATV vehicles without one, unless they are exempt. Federal law also requires masks at Mineta San Jose International Airport.
Contact Eli Wolfe at [email protected] Where @ EliWolfe4 on Twitter. Contact Lloyd Alaban at [email protected] or follow @lloydalaban on Twitter.
This story will be updated.
[ad_2]
Source link