Some Merced County school districts update outdoor COVID mask rules, amid new CDC guidance

Merced Union High School District officials on Friday said students and staff will not be required to wear masks or face coverings outside of classrooms and offices starting Monday.

The announcement came after federal health officials Thursday issued new recommendations saying Americans fully vaccinated for COVID-19 do not need to wear masks or practice social distancing in most indoor and outdoor settings. State and local health officials in California as of Friday morning had not yet updated their mandates.

With MUHSD’s announcement, students and staff, regardless of vaccination status, do not have to wear a mask outdoors, said Sam Yniguez, MUHSD communications director.

Still, social distancing will be monitored and enforced in MUHSD, and masks must still be worn indoors by everyone.

With guidance from the Merced County Department of Public Health, all Merced County school districts may also allow staff and students to not require masks outdoors regardless of vaccination status, said Merced County Office of Education spokesperson Nathan Quevedo.

But social distancing must still be enforced, and masks must also be worn indoors. Parents should check with their student’s respective school districts about COVID rules.

In the meantime, MCOE and local health officials are encouraging those 12 and older to get vaccinated in an effort to reach herd immunity.

“While we understand that there is hesitancy by some to get the vaccine, we encourage you to take another look at the data and consider getting vaccinated for our community,” said a statement sent by Steve Tietjen, county superintendent of schools and Salvador Sandoval, Merced County Public Health officer.

Herd immunity is making sure enough people are vaccinated to ensure the virus can be brought under control. Rough estimates are that 70% to 90% of the population must be vaccinated in order to achieve herd immunity. As of Friday, Merced County has estimated that just about 31% of its eligible population was fully vaccinated.

“We need about 100,000 more people in Merced County to get vaccinated to reach herd immunity for COVID-19,” Sandoval, explained in the statement.

Cases update

As of Friday afternoon, the Merced County Department of Public Health reported no new deaths. Merced County fatalities from COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic are 461.

The county reported five new cases Friday, and there are currently an estimated 325 residents infected with the virus. A total of 31,919 county residents have been infected since the pandemic’s outbreak.

The number of residents hospitalized in Merced County due to the coronavirus is 10 — with three in the ICU. According to the state, Merced County hospitals had three available ICU beds as of Thursday.

Merced County’s positivity rate is at 2.4%, a decrease from Thursday’s percentage at 2.8%. The rate indicates the level of people among those tested who had a positive result.

Merced County is among 11 California counties that remain in red Tier 2, indicating continued “substantial” spread of the virus in the county.

The others are Del Norte, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Shasta, Solano, Stanislaus, Tehama and Yuba counties.

Red tier is the second-most restrictive level of the state’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy.

The blueprint and its tiers are intended to provide for a gradual reopening of businesses and other activities from broad closures and restrictions enacted last year to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus from person to person.

This story was originally published May 14, 2021 at 6:04 PM.