Mask mandate reinstated in San Francisco Bay Area amid surge

SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco and six different Bay Area counties announced Monday that they are reinstating a disguise mandate for each indoor nationalist settings arsenic COVID-19 infections surge due to the fact that of the highly contagious delta variant.

The caller mandate applies to everyone, careless of their vaccination status, and takes effect connected Tuesday successful San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Sonoma counties, arsenic good arsenic the metropolis of Berkeley.

In a quality league announcing the caller orders, Bay Areafor wellness officers besides recommended that radical stitchery outdoors if they person that option.

“It is unfortunate we person to bash this astatine this constituent successful the pandemic. None of america wanted to beryllium here,” said Dr. George Han, lawman wellness serviceman for Santa Clara County. “But the microorganism has changed.”

The delta variant accounts for 95% of caller coronavirus cases successful the region, said Sundari Mase, the interim wellness serviceman for Sonoma County, which is northbound of San Francisco.

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“We are facing a overmuch much assertive and contagious hostile close now,” she said.

The immense bulk of caller cases and hospitalizations are among unvaccinated people, but the Bay Area mandate affects each radical due to the fact that determination has been an summation successful the fig of vaccinated radical investigating affirmative and grounds that vaccinated radical tin transmit the virus.

Mase and the different wellness officials said the comparatively debased fig of vaccinated radical who are hospitalized present are chiefly aged oregon those with important underlying wellness conditions.

In enactment with guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, California past week recommended that everyone deterioration masks indoors careless of vaccination status, but officials stopped abbreviated of requiring it.

Indoor disguise mandates are already successful effect successful Los Angeles, Yolo and Sacramento counties. In a large retreat successful the Deep South, Louisiana, with 1 of the lowest vaccination rates successful the nation, besides reinstated a disguise mandate Monday, going a measurement further to see schools and colleges.

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The San Francisco Bay Area’s wellness officers were the archetypal successful the federation to denote a shutdown astatine the commencement of the pandemic successful March 2020.

The portion collectively leads the authorities successful vaccination rates, with implicit 60% of residents afloat vaccinated. Marin County, northbound of San Francisco, has the highest rate, with astir 73% of its residents vaccinated.

California has experienced a dependable emergence successful microorganism cases since the authorities afloat reopened its system connected June 15 and did distant with indoor and outdoor capableness limits and societal distancing.

The Bay Area wellness officers said they took enactment Monday due to the fact that of troubling numbers of hospitalizations and that they volition see easing the caller restrictions erstwhile those rates spell down.

“We are alarmed astatine the complaint astatine which COVID patients are filling our assemblage infirmary beds,” said Chris Farnitano, wellness serviceman for Contra Costa County, wherever the fig of hospitalized patients has doubled successful the past 10 days and accrued by much than 400% successful July.

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He urged unvaccinated radical to get the shots and said indoor gatherings presents the highest microorganism dispersed risk.

“If you are unvaccinated I would powerfully counsel against higher-risk indoor activities — similar eating successful an indoor restaurant, going to workout successful a gym, going to a movie theater,” Farnitano said.

Indoor edifice eating volition inactive beryllium allowed, though radical volition person to support masks connected erstwhile they are not eating oregon drinking.

In different nationalist settings similar gyms and movie theaters, look coverings indispensable beryllium worn, though enforcement volition alteration depending connected location.

In Santa Clara County, businesses volition beryllium required to enforce the disguise mandate and residents tin taxable complaints connected the wellness department’s website, Han said.

In the metropolis of Berkeley, which is successful Alameda County but has its ain nationalist wellness department, businesses volition beryllium required nether the caller bid to person signs indicating that masks are required indoors, said Lisa Hernandez, the city’s wellness officer.

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San Francisco does not program to enforce its caller bid but volition trust connected the inclination of residents “to travel the subject and the data," said Naveena Bobba, the city's lawman manager of health.

The Kaiser Permanente wellness attraction concern joined different U.S. employers and nationalist wellness departments Monday successful making COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for an estimated 239,000 employees and physicians.

The Oakland-based wellness attraction and wellness program supplier said astir 78% of its employees and much than 95% of physicians are afloat vaccinated.

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Associated Press writer Janie Har contributed to this report.

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