COVID restrictions are set expire in Stanislaus County. Here’s what you need to know
In Stanislaus County and the rest of the state Tuesday, capacity limits on businesses will end and people fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can stop wearing masks indoors and at crowded outdoor events.
California is reopening after the COVID-19 pandemic infected almost 3.7 million state residents and caused 62,593 deaths.
With about 63 percent of state residents exposed to minimal transmission, the state is not completely ending mask requirements designed to keep people from spreading the coronavirus.
The guidance will still require masks in health care settings, on airplanes, trains and transit buses, at K-12 schools and childcare centers.
The face mask rules won’t change for people who are not fully vaccinated. They are still required to wear masks outside the home in indoor settings and outdoors when 6 feet distance from others cannot be maintained.
Jody Hayes, county chief executive officer, said Thursday the county was still waiting for Cal OSHA face-mask guidelines for workplaces to be aligned with rules of the governor’s office and California Department of Public Health.
In event that Gov. Gavin Newsom doesn’t bring those guidelines in conformity with each other, “we will have to reassess what the guidelines are and what information can be provided to our employees and the public,” Hayes said.
When it comes to face mask rules at concerts and public events, the county won’t impose additional restrictions above the state requirements, Hayes said.
Counties are allowed to set their own rules for masks. And vaccinated people may keep wearing them.
Stanislaus County health officials will still issue community messages as COVID disease is tracked over the summer. Stanislaus County is seeing moderate transmission of the virus as the reopening date approaches, with 44 new cases reported Friday.
California workers who are fully vaccinated won’t have to wear masks at work, according to the latest update to the state’s COVID workplace rules released Friday.
Here is a breakdown of where you will and will not need to wear a mask depending on your vaccination status starting Tuesday.
Those in California who are fully vaccinated will no longer be required to wear masks indoors except in the following settings:
▪ Health care settings (except when the face covering must be removed for treatment).
▪ Long-term care facilities, such as nursing homes.
▪ Public transit.
▪ Correctional facilities.
▪ K-12 campuses and childcare settings.
▪ Homeless shelters.
▪ Emergency shelters and cooling centers.
Since early May, the fully vaccinated have only been required to wear masks outdoors in crowded event settings, such as concerts or sports events.
The fully vaccinated will no longer be required to wear masks in crowd settings, indoor or outdoor, once California adopts the CDC recommendations.
Not fully vaccinated
California’s mask rules for those who are not fully vaccinated will be the same as they have been for almost a year: Face coverings remain mandatory in most indoor settings outside of one’s own home, and in outdoor settings when one cannot keep six feet of distance from others.
Some indoor exceptions remain. Masks aren’t required:
▪ When in a car alone, or only with members of the same household.
▪ When working alone in a closed room or office space.
Masks are also not required for those under age 2; those with a disability that prevents wearing a face covering; or those who are hearing impaired or communicating with someone who is hearing impaired.
One new provision is that venues hosting outdoor “mega events” — those drawing crowds of more than 10,000 people — must make masks available for all attendees, according to CDPH.
In the workplace: No change for now, update in late June
Currently, as per standards set in November 2020 by Cal-OSHA, workers in California must generally wear masks indoors at all times and outdoors when within six feet of others.
In early June, Cal-OSHA’s standards board proposed an update that would allow fully vaccinated workers to take off their masks only when everyone else around them was also fully vaccinated.
This represented a loosening, but it didn’t align with either the CDC guidance or incoming CDPH guidance on mask use.
In a special meeting Wednesday, the board withdrew the proposed update and said they will consider a different update that better fits state and federal guidance at their next meeting.
Any update the board votes to approve during that meeting would not go into effect until around June 28.
How will businesses, events verify vaccination status?
It appears that how businesses and venues go about determining who is and isn’t vaccinated will largely be up to the individual establishments.
New CDPH guidance states: “In settings where masks are required only for unvaccinated individuals, businesses, venue operators or hosts may choose to:
▪ Provide information to all patrons, guests and attendees regarding vaccination requirements and allow vaccinated individuals to self-attest that they are in compliance prior to entry.
▪ Implement vaccine verification to determine whether individuals are required to wear a mask.
▪ Require all patrons to wear masks.
Businesses can either keep masks mandatory, ask to see a vaccination card or some other documentation showing vaccination, or essentially just use the honor system. “If companies decide it’s in their best interests to require masking they will have that option,” the state health department said in a statement.
While California as a whole isn’t adopting a vaccine passport system, the state will mandate the presentation of proof of vaccination for people attending certain “mega events,” defined as events with more than 5,000 people that are indoors or more than 10,000 people that are outdoors.
“Indoor mega event attendees will be required to confirm proof of vaccination or negative COVID-19 status to attend. Outdoor mega event attendees will be strongly encouraged to do so,” according to a department statement.
Can I still wear a mask if I want to?
Yes. Vaccinated residents may continue to wear face coverings in settings where they are not mandatory if they choose to do so.
“No person can be prevented from wearing a mask as a condition of participation in an activity or entry into a business,” the June 15 mask guidance from CDPH says.
The Sacramento Bee contributed to this report.
This story was originally published June 13, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
