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Amid a persistent wave of coronavirus cases, public health officials in seven Bay Area counties, including Sonoma County, and the city of Berkeley on Monday ordered all area residents to re-wear face covers indoors, regardless of their immunization status.
The mask’s mandate for indoor public places comes into effect Tuesday at 12:01 a.m.
“We know that face coverings prevent the virus from circulating, and with the spread of contagious variants, it has become clear that wearing a mask is necessary again,” said Dr Sundari Mase, county health official. from Sonoma, in a statement.
“Masking and vaccinations are the most important tools we have to end the pandemic,” Mase said. “The vaccine is safe, effective, free and widely available. We encourage all residents to do their part by wearing their masks to ensure their safety, that of their families and their community. “
Companies are required to implement the order to cover the face on the inside. In addition, public health officials have recommended that all employers make masks available to people entering their workplaces.
Officials said that although the vaccines are effective against the delta variant, the virus mutation still infects a small percentage of people vaccinated in the Bay Area.
Vaccinated residents are protected from serious illness, hospitalization and death, officials said. And in cases where a vaccinated person is infected, face coverings can prevent the spread of the virus.
Officials said the mask requirement was aimed at stopping the spread of the delta variant, a highly transmissible coronavirus mutation that is said to be 60% more contagious than a previous dominant viral mutation.
The warrant was issued by officials from Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Sonoma counties, as well as Berkeley.
This comes just six weeks after Governor Gavin Newsom fully reopened the state after weeks of declining COVID-19 transmission and associated hospitalizations.
According to the new decree, residents are required to wear a properly fitted mask indoors in public places. Officials said the settings, whether public or private, pose a higher risk of transmitting COVID-19, especially when you’re with people you don’t live with.
Officials said today’s directive is in line with guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the California Department of Public Health, which recommended that fully vaccinated people wear masks when in venues. indoor audiences.
In Sonoma County, active cases of COVID-19 reached 1,500 for the first time since February 29. At that time, the county was emerging from a winter wave of cases that claimed the lives of 149 local residents during the months of December, January and February.
The winter death toll includes 45% of the 330 local coronavirus-related deaths since the pandemic began in March 2020. At the height of the winter wave, more than 100 coronavirus patients were being treated at local hospitals.
This gloomy winter was followed by a spring lull in new coronavirus infections, with active local cases falling to around 300 by mid-May and county-wide hospitalizations dropping to half a dozen.
Local hospitals are again reporting an influx of patients with COVID-19, the infectious disease caused by the novel coronavirus. As of Sunday, there were 59 patients in Sonoma County hospitals, and 15 of them in intensive care units.
Hospitalizations in the county linked to the pandemic illness last week hovered around 45.
You can contact editor-in-chief Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or [email protected]. On Twitter @pressreno.
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