Mask Mandate Renewed In 7 Bay Area Counties, City Of Berkeley

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Seven Bay Area counties and the city of Berkeley on Monday reinstated indoor mask mandates following news of spiking COVID-19 cases among both unvaccinated and vaccinated residents, driven by the highly transmissible delta variant.

Regardless of vaccination status, residents must mask up indoors in public settings, starting at midnight. Face coverings will be required in places such as retail stores and restaurants with limited exceptions in the following counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Sonoma.

A leaked report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week revealed that the highly transmissible delta variant is more likely to infect vaccinated people than previous mutations. The risk of vaccinated people contracting COVID-19 is still very low.

Bay Area public health officials on Monday pleaded with unvaccinated residents to reconsider as inoculations still provide a 25-fold reduction in the risk of hospitalization or death from COVID-19 compared to no vaccines, federal officials said last week.

"We must act now to protect ourselves, our loved ones and our community. If you are eligible to get a COVID-19 vaccine and have not yet done so, please do not wait any longer," said Dr. Chris Farnitano, Contra Costa's health officer.

Farnitano said hospitalizations within Contra Costa County alone shot up 400 percent during July. What's more, four out of five COVID-19 patients were unvaccinated, though just one out of five county residents are unvaccinated, he said.

In Marin County, Dr. Lisa Santora, the county's deputy public health officer, said that most of the recent spread was due to household transmission and private gatherings among unvaccinated residents.

"We’ve also seen a significant increase of clusters of COVID-19 cases, among both vaccinated and unvaccinated persons, in public settings including outdoor and indoor events and performances where masks were not worn by vaccinated persons,” she said in a statement.

On Tuesday, Bay Area residents will be required to wear a "well-fitting" mask indoors. Officials are also nudging employers to make face coverings available to people entering businesses as all indoor establishments across the seven counties will be required to enforce the renewed mask mandate.

More than 61 percent of Californians are fully vaccinated, and Bay Area counties have some of the highest vaccination rates in the state. But there is still a substantial amount of residents who are unvaccinated or vaccine-hesitant.

In Sonoma County, the region's seven-day coronavirus case average increased from 5.7 new cases per 100,000 residents per day to 14 new cases per 100,000 residents per day as of July 30, according to local officials.

"In Sonoma County, our case rate for unvaccinated individuals [was] nearly six times higher than it is for our vaccinated population," Dr. Sundari Mase, health officer for Sonoma County, told ABC7. "This is not the same virus that we're combating last year even a few months ago."

Mase said that the delta variant is 60 percent more transmissible than previous strains of coronavirus, adding that vaccinated residents in Sonoma were also testing positive.

Within Sonoma County, failure to comply with the renewed mask mandate is a misdemeanor that is punishable by "fine, imprisonment, or both," according to the county's health order.

Bay Area residents were allowed to shed masks in mid-June when the state reopened. Nearly two months later, public health officials are urging that indoor gatherings still put residents at risk for catching the virus, which has been amplified by the delta.

In Los Angeles County, the indoor mask mandate was already reinstated last month, and dozens of bars within the county are beginning to require a vaccination card or negative test to enter.

"This is a short term, evidence-based strategy to help keep our businesses open and support a safe reopening of schools," Santora said.

The news comes less than a week after the California Department of Public Health formally recommended on Wednesday that state residents resume wearing face coverings indoors, regardless of their vaccination status. More than 90 percent of the state's population lives in areas with substantial or high transmission rates, department officials said.

"The delta variant has caused a sharp increase in hospitalizations and case rates across the state," Dr. Tomas Aragon, the state's public health officer, said this week. "We are recommending masking in indoor public places to slow the spread while we continue efforts to get more Californians vaccinated."

CDC documents obtained by The Washington Post this week revealed that the mutation was as contagious as chickenpox. In more hair-raising news, the variant also increased the likelihood that a vaccinated person could contract the coronavirus, although instances of serious illness, hospitalization and death remain rare and the chance of getting the disease remains relatively low.

People with breakthrough infections make up an increasing portion of hospitalizations and in-hospital deaths among COVID-19 patients as the delta variant spreads, according to the CDC's documents.

"The war has changed," federal officials from the CDC wrote this week.

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