While the spring introduced a resurgence in Covid circumstances all through the nation, state and native leaders have been reluctant to reinstate their mask insurance policies, even to curb the unfold of extremely contagious Omicron subvariants. In early April, Philadelphia grew to become the primary main U.S. metropolis to revive its mask coverage, solely to abruptly stroll it again simply days later.
In California, the Bay Area particularly has been onerous hit by the surge, a counter-intuitive pattern given the area’s extremely vaccinated inhabitants and its normal adherence to public well being steering. Health specialists have urged that the rise is due partially as a result of fewer residents have acquired immunity from prior an infection whereas individuals have turn out to be much less cautious as restrictions eased.
After California lifted its statewide mask mandate on Feb.16, most counties adopted go well with. Since the start of this newest wave, which began in early April, California’s positivity charge has been on the rise, now nearing 8 p.c statewide. Just a few faculties and universities, together with the University of California, Los Angeles, have opted to renew masking. San Jose prolonged its mandate for metropolis staff till July 1. But different jurisdictions have been hesitant to take action.
San Francisco well being officers stated Thursday that they had no plans to require their residents to mask up. “While Covid-19 cases are high, and hospitalizations are also increasing, vaccines and boosters continue to protect against severe illness,” county officers stated in a press release. “With our high vaccination rate, San Francisco is not seeing high rates of severe illness affect the wider population and among people who are vaccinated and boosted.”
Officials in Santa Clara County, which lifted its indoor mask mandate on March 2 — later than every other Bay Area county — stated they “do not have any plans to require masking indoors, although we continue to strongly recommend it for everyone.”
Alameda County’s new order largely mirrors the earlier indoor masking coverage, masking most indoor public areas together with grocery shops, libraries, workplaces and gymnasiums. Bay Area counties have prior to now have collectively issued well being orders, however Moss stated he didn’t attempt to get others to revive their mask insurance policies, focusing as an alternative on his county’s wants.
The order has no finish date, however Moss stated he hopes to elevate it as quickly as doable. “If we get more people in masks — we know masks work — we hope we’ll get through this peak of wave a little faster,” he stated.
George Rutherford, a professor of epidemiology at UC San Francisco who lives in Alameda County, stated he helps native well being departments making these calls, however he doesn’t count on mask mandates to make a lot of a comeback.
Despite pandemic fatigue, Rutherford stated he believed Alameda County residents would mask up. “It’s not lockdown; it’s just wearing a mask,” he stated.