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San Francisco announces changes to indoor mask mandate
The city of San Francisco is softening its mask rules ahead of the state of California.
Health
The city of San Francisco is softening its mask rules ahead of the state of California.
Beginning Feb. 1, office workers, gym members and so-called “stable cohorts” of vaccinated and boosted (if eligible) individuals may remove their face coverings indoors again, officials said in a statement released Thursday. This change to the city's mandate reinstates the exemption to California's mask indoor mandate that was in place before the omicron surge, and allowed to remain in place by the state. The city voluntarily removed this exemption at the end of December.
Stable cohorts are groups of people who get together again and again in the same places, such as a yoga class, college class or religious gathering, for example. These stable groups must be fully vaccinated and boosted in order to take off their masks indoors, which is a change from the previous health order where boosters were not required for unmasking.
In accordance with the state's mask rules, the city's mask mandate remains in effect for most other public settings regardless of vaccination status. Children in schools, transitional kindergarten through 12th grade, are required to continue wearing masks indoors. Masks are also still required in retail stores, bars and restaurants or other places that are open to the public. People can continue to remove their masks temporarily in restaurants and bars to eat or drink.
The city also said it's taking steps to align its health order with the California Department of Public Health's order.
Beginning Feb. 1, you can enter indoor “mega-events” of 500 people or more with a negative COVID-19 test as an alternative to being fully vaccinated. The city will begin allowing religious and medical exemptions to vaccination requirements with a negative COVID-19 test for entry to indoor locations such as, restaurants, bars, gyms and fitness centers.
With these changes coming, the city warned, "The public should be mindful that people in some settings may not be fully vaccinated or boosted and so should use good judgment when attending gatherings or events."
For a rundown of all the changes made to the health order visit the San Francisco Department of Public Health website.
These changes come as cases are on the decline. The city reported a seven-day average of 1,370 new cases on Jan. 19, compared with 2,244 at the peak on Jan. 8.