Despite rising COVID infections, BART lifts mask mandate Monday
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) -- The BA.5 variant of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus is now the most dominant strain of COVID-19 in the U.S. It appears many people are contracting the virus multiple times. The surge is happening at a time when BART has relaxed temporary masking requirements.
Starting Monday, BART riders were no longer required have to wear face coverings in the system. However the agency is still encouraging riders to wear their masks.
"(Masks) should still be mandated because, if they're not mandated then a lot more people don't wear them as much then the cases are just going up again and then -- surprise! surprise! -- now here's another mask mandate," said Katherine Alm of Fremont.
The BART board will decide whether to approve a new mask mandate at its next meeting July 28.
"Today was my first experience on there. With me, I'm going to wear my mask regardless," said Sam Langi of San Francisco.
UCSF infectious disease expert Dr. Peter Chin-Hong said that, right now, we're seeing a lot of virus activity in our communities.
"Some believe it's just as high as January ... We're probably seeing two to ten times more real cases than are actually officially reported because of home testing," he said. "That's given wastewater surveillance in Northern California."
Dr. Chin-Hong said that, right now, there are 44 people hospitalized at UCSF versus more than 100 back in January. That number is likely to go up as more people get infected.
He says the superpower of this variant is re-infection.
"Your antibodies don't really remember omicron when it sees BA.5. It looks so different. However, the inside memory immune cells -- the T cells and B cells -- they remember it quite well so they're going to keep you away from the hospital."
Dr. Chin-Hong said he doesn't foresee large restrictions coming back in San Francisco, though he predicts L.A. County could move forward in bringing them back at the end of the month.
The latest on BART's COVID masking protocols is available on https://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2020/news20200421.