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Some Bay Area counties will be exempted by the California’s mask mandate that starts today

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Some Bay Area counties will be exempted by the California’s mask mandate that starts today

Contra Costa County, CA – California mask mandate that officially starts today as a result of the increasing number of new Covid-19 cases recently, will mandate everyone across the state to wear masks while indoors from toddlers to adults.

However, some counties that already had mask mandates in place will be exempted from the state-wide mask mandate and this exemption will only applies for fully vaccinated individuals.

The California’s mask mandate that starts today is mandating everyone to wear face masks of face coverings in all indoor public places regardless of their vaccination status.

In San Francisco, Alameda and Contra Costa counties, which already had local orders in place that allowed masks to come off indoors in certain controlled settings with a small, stable group of fully vaccinated people like workspaces and gyms, those local rules remain in place.

“This refinement acknowledges the hard work of the people of San Francisco throughout the pandemic, including the ways in which we have maintained reasonable protections heading into the holiday season,” San Francisco’s Department of Public Health said in a statement late Tuesday.

Neetu Balram, Alameda County Department of Public Health public information manager, said that local residents will not see any difference starting Wednesday as the exact same rules will apply like the previous period.

Contra Costa County said because of its local rule, “the new statewide masking mandate doesn’t affect us and we will retain limited exceptions for certain indoor settings not open to the general public such as offices and gyms where everyone is vaccinated.”

The same won’t apply for Marin County since their local health authorities lifted the mask mandate early November because the county met certain criteria in terms of new Covid-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths. Now they officially confirmed that the state’s face mask mandate is in effect today.

The face mask mandate started today and is set to last until January 15th. According to the state officials, everyone is required to wear masks while indoors regardless of their vaccination status except children under the age of 2, people with medical or mental health conditions that would be worsened by the masks, the hearing impaired or others for whom it would pose a risk at work.

The face mask mandate was enforced once again state wide as a result of the increasing number of cases since Thanksgiving. The most recent data shows that COVID-19 cases have increased 47% and hospitalizations 14%. Most of the cases are Delta variant cases.

While many will argue, the face mask mandate is something that everyone needs in an effort to create safer environments as we approach the holiday season and, in a situation, when the recently discovered Omicron variant poses serious threat for both unvaccinated and those fully vaccinated as a result of its fast and easy spread.

Bryan is the Manager and a Creative Director at the Concord News Journal. He works with the editorial designer to make sure the publication is designed in accordance with the company vision. He also works with clients to ensure that their advertising campaign is working to promote their business.

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