CA's Workers May Have To Wear Masks Until 2022: Readers Weigh In

CALIFORNIA — The Golden State's workforce safety board will meet Thursday to decide whether the state should hold onto coronavirus restrictions for workers past the June 15 reopening date.

The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health last week proposed that employers keep mask requirements until early next year and social distancing requirements until late summer, a departure from Gov. Gavin Newsom's guidance.

Under the proposal, masks would be required for those working indoors if anyone in the room was not fully vaccinated — or if vaccination status was ambiguous. This likely means that employees working in retail, restaurants or grocery stores would also have to wear a mask.

Patch asked readers to share their thoughts in a survey. The survey — which drew more than 7,338 responses — was not a scientific poll and was meant to offer only a broad idea of public sentiment.

Patch asked: "Californians working indoors among those who are unvaccinated — or where the inoculation status of employees is unknown — may have to keep wearing masks until early next year. Do you think this is a good idea?"

• 54.9 percent answered "no."
• 42 percent said "yes."
• Just 3.1 percent were unsure.

Under Cal/OSHA's proposal, employers would need to supply N95 masks for those who are not fully vaccinated and for those working alongside them indoors. When asked whether they thought that was necessary: 55.1 percent said "no," 38.4 percent answered "yes," and 6.5 percent said they were unsure.

Under Cal/OSHA's proposal, employees indoors or at outdoor large-scale events, with 10,000 people or more, would have to continue physical distancing or wear an N95 respirator until July 31. Some 55.6 percent of respondents said this was unnecessary; 39.3 percent answered "yes," it is necessary. Some 5 percent were not sure.

If California decides to extend its mask requirement for indoor workers, it may also require employers to track vaccination status.

We asked readers: Do you think this is necessary?

• 50.1 percent said "no."
• 44.2 percent answered "yes."
• 5.7 percent said they were unsure.

The state is nevertheless poised to open as cases plummeted dramatically several months ago and remained low in stark contrast to the state's winter coronavirus surge. The state's positivity rate was also 0.8 percent as of Tuesday — a new low.

Just over 51 percent of Californians were fully vaccinated as of Wednesday.

Considering this number, we asked readers: Do you think the state should still reopen fully on June 15?

• A resounding 61 percent answered "yes."
• 28 percent said "no."
• 10.2 percent said they were unsure.

Cal/OSHA's draft would enforce tighter rules on California's workforce, and it strays from Newsom's plan to do away with masking and social distancing in mid-June.

We asked readers: Do you think that there should be tougher policies in place to protect California's workers from COVID-19?

• 55.4 percent said "no."
• 35.3 percent answered "yes."
• 9.3 percent said they weren't sure.

Patch also asked readers to share any additional thoughts on the issue. Here are some responses.

"Everyone who wants to be vaccinated has the opportunity. If someone chooses to skip the vaccine, it is their own fault if they get COVID. The rest of us should not have to pay the consequences of someone else's choice by continuing with restrictions, and businesses should not have to foot the bill by providing masks or enduring the costs of tracking vaccinated v. unvaccinated."

"Safety should be priority 1. The economy should not come first. We can come back but we can't raise the dead."

"Everyone has a chance to get vaccinated. I do not want to wear a mask - I am fully vaccinated - just because SOMEONE ELSE can't bother to get vaccinated."

"The lack of freedom in this state is a total disgrace"

"This is awful!!! Just open the state and let those who are unvaccinated figure it out."

"I work in a grocery store. I am vaccinated. NO MORE MASKS!!!"

"Guidance and support is needed for employers who have some staff refusing to get vaccinated. We have direct client contact and feel that we should be able to mandate vaccinations for all staff but need to be reassured that we can legally do this."

"In workspaces where ventilation is really bad, there are not windows or any type of ventilation - THE MASK RULE should continue. I think the city should go to businesses and see how well ventilation is."

"If you’re vaccinated why should you care about others’ vaccine status? If you haven’t been vaccinated by now you’ve made that choice."

"I believe employers should have the right to require workers to be vaccinated."

"Though 50% of Californians are vaccinated, that's an average. There are counties and neighborhoods with far lower compliance. That is my reason for thinking CA is rushing by fully re-opening."

"Just wish the Federal, state, county and OSHA would be in sync so businesses are not confused on the correct process to follow."

The new rules proposed by Cal/OSHA would "create policies and procedures for two classes of people: vaccinated and nonvaccinated," Helen Cleary, director of the Phylmar Regulatory Roundtable, a coalition of large businesses, told The Associated Press.

The recommendation differs from guidance by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It advised on May 13 that fully vaccinated people may forgo masks indoors.

"All workers, vaccinated or not, deserve protection in the workplace and the tools to exercise their rights," Stephen Knight, of the Bay Area-based worker advocacy group WorkSafe, told The Mercury News. "The language seems better calibrated to actual workplace conditions than the broad-brush relaxation recently proposed by the federal CDC."

The changes to the proposal drew criticism from business and agricultural groups.

"We are disappointed to see that this new revised draft does not correspond to the governor's June 15th opening, and that vaccinated individuals will have to continue to wear masks in the workplace," California Chamber of Commerce policy advocate Rob Moutrie said in an email to The Associated Press.

Groups argued that the mask requirement could cause a shortage of N95 masks at a time when the state is expected to enter another potentially devastating wildfire season, fanned by an ongoing drought and rising temperatures.

"If the state is going to mandate these types of regulations like the N95 mask, then there needs to be some sort of funding to that," Heath Flora, a state assemblyman and vice chair of the state's Committee on Labor and Employment, told ABC7.

The regulations imposed by the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board apply to almost every workplace in the state. Pandemic rules would apply to all employees except those working from home.

Cal/OSHA will meet on June 3 to discuss and vote on the proposal.

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California Coronavirus Data As Of Tuesday

• California has 3,685,455 confirmed cases to date.

• There were 423 newly recorded confirmed cases Monday.

• The seven-day positivity rate is 0.7 percent.

• There have been 65,858,455 tests conducted in California.

• There have been 62,021 COVID-19 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

• As of June 1, providers have reported administering a total of 37,577,507 vaccine doses statewide.