COVID: Masks Will Still Be Required In Some Places Even After Mandate Is Lifted
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) -- The countdown is on for fully vaccinated Californians to be able to remove their masks indoors when the state eases up on the mandate.
However, there are several conditions and places where masks will be required, regardless of vaccination status.
Meanwhile, on Monday, California Health and Human Services Agency Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly announced that masks inside grades K through 12 classrooms would be a mandate until at least the end of the month.
"This is not a decision that we make lightly or in a hasty way," Ghaly said.
UCSF Professor of Epidemiology George Rutherford agreed with the agency's decision.
"We're trying to prevent transmission to families and grandparents, especially," Rutherford said. "We're trying not to have disruption of classroom closures. Schools are not being singled out here."
He's right. Regardless of vaccination status, masks are required on public transit, in shelters, healthcare settings, jails and senior or long-term care facilities. Businesses, counties or workplaces can also require that masks be worn.
Despite California's easing of the health measure, Rutherford believes this is not the end of indoor mask mandates.
"Mark my words, the winter is when this is going to surge so just don't throw away your masks," he said.
Meanwhile, the Burlingame School District is joining other districts in the Bay Area to allow students to remove masks outdoors for now.
But the path out of the pandemic -- or endemic -- according to Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks is with AB 1993.
The lawmaker introduced the bill that would require all workers in California, who come into contact with others, to be fully vaccinated within 45 days of their start date. Business owners who don't comply would face a penalty.
"Fundamentally, this bill is about workplace safety and making sure that our workers are safe," Wicks said. "AB 1993 will require all employees and independent contractors in California to be vaccinated. Right now we have a lot of patchwork vaccine mandates across the state. We've heard from a lot of business groups who are supportive of the idea of one statewide framework."
