California is ending indoor mask mandates for Vaccinated individuals, effective next week.
California health officials announced on Monday that vaccinated individuals will no longer have to wear facemasks in most indoor settings as the Omicron surge recedes.
However, the unvaccinated ones will still be required to wear facemasks indoors and some cities and counties may also keep their mandates in place.
California's indoor mask mandate will end next week for vaccinated individuals, Gov. Newsom says https://t.co/ijDo7MtQzb
— Fox News (@FoxNews) February 8, 2022
Moreover, there are also indoor areas where people will be required to wear masks despite being vaccinated including places like public transportation and long-term care facilities.
In addition, teachers, students and other staff at K-12 schools will also still be required to wear masks.
According to California health officials, they are working “with education, public health and community leaders to update masking requirements at schools to adapt to changing conditions and ensure the safety of kids, teachers, and staff.”
Reports revealed that Covid-19 cases have “fallen about 65% from the peak of about 120,000 new infections on average a day in mid-January.”
“CA’s case rate has decreased by 65% since our Omicron peak. Our hospitalizations have stabilized across the state. Our statewide indoor mask requirement will expire on 2/15. Unvaccinated people will still need to wear masks indoors. Get vaccinated. Get boosted.” 40th Governor of California Gavin Newsom said in his post on Twitter
In the new guidance issued on Monday, the California Department of Public Health wrote: “The current hospital census is still over capacity, but the dramatic surge in cases and hospitalizations due to the highly infectious Omicron variant over the last two months has declined significantly.”
“Californians are also increasingly knowledgeable about how to protect themselves and their loved ones with effective masks when there may be risk of COVID-19 exposure. Accordingly, it is now appropriate for the universal indoor masking requirement to expire on February 15, 2022 as scheduled.” the department added.
