Where are masks still needed in California? Here’s what rules will (and won’t) change
.JPG "Shoppers, some with masks and some without, ride the escalator at Sacramento’s Arden Fair mall near an advertisement of smiling models outside the Michael Kors store on Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022.")
Pandemic-related measures across California will wind down starting next week, leaving people curious about the upcoming guidance on masks when the last mandates sunset in April.
Bee reader John Long reached out to our California service team with this question: Will masks be required in stores and businesses? Or in Food banks/soup kitchens?”
Statewide mask rules will change in high-risk and healthcare indoor settings, according to the California Department of Public Health.
Starting April 3, masks won’t be required in doctor offices as well as other health care settings, long-term care centers, correctional facilities and homeless shelters. Healthcare centers will have roughly one month to develop and implement measures to protect their patients from seasonal viruses.
Here’s what you need to know about where masks will still be recommended, but not required, in California:
Mask rule changes coming to California
The guidance won’t change for general community settings, according to CDPH. Masks are not required in schools, stores and businesses.
In other settings including public transportation and transportation hubs like airports, well-fitted masks will still be recommended but not required. Masks are recommended for everyone when COVID-19 community levels are higher.
“The updated guidance is intended to provide information that each Californian should consider based on their unique circumstances,” CDPH wrote in a March statement.
The Sacramento region, parts of the Bay Area and Central Valley, as of Thursday, remain at a medium community level, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Meaning, the agency recommends but does not require high-risk individuals to wear face coverings in public indoor settings. The majority of California counties are in a low-risk level, according to the CDC, with 11 in medium and zero counties in the high category.
Regardless of the COVID-19 community level, a mask should be worn around others if you have a cough, runny nose or a sore throat, according to CDPH.
What is the COVID-19 transmission rate in California?
California’s COVID-19 state of emergency ended Feb. 28, and a couple of days later CDPH announced a number of statewide changes to masks, vaccinations and isolation periods.
The federal COVID-19 state of emergency will end May 11.
“California has reached a point where we can update some of the COVID-19 guidance to continue to balance prevention and adapting to living with COVID-19,” said director Dr. Tomás Aragón with the California Department of Public Health in the March statement.
When California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced California would break its COVID-19 state of emergency in October, the reason behind the shift was the decline in hospitalizations and deaths.
More than 11.1 million people contracted COVID-19 in California since the pandemic began nearly three years ago, according to the latest available state data, updated Thursday. More than 100,000 people died.
California’s daily average sits at more than 2,700 cases — or nearly seven new cases per 100,000 people, as of Thursday.
The state has a 6.5% positivity rate.
This story was originally published March 8, 2023 at 12:44 PM with the headline "Where are masks still needed in California? Here’s what rules will (and won’t) change."