Pasadena has issued an updated health order effective Saturday which will give fully vaccinated people the option to either wear or remove masks in many indoor settings in alignment with State Health Officer’s recent order.
The city said in a statement Thursday that the revised order differs slightly from the County approach because it is less restrictive in allowing for additional options for vaccine verification, including self-attestation, in most businesses and public areas.
Currently, the State Health Officer Order requires anyone who is not fully vaccinated to mask in all indoor public settings and businesses (including, but not limited to retail, restaurants, theaters, family entertainment centers, workplaces, and state and local government offices serving the public).
No person can be prevented from wearing a mask as a condition of participation in an activity or entry into a business.
On Friday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to issue revised guidelines on a variety of COVID-prevention fronts, including an anticipated loosening of masking rules.
The State’s Health Order and federal regulations continue to require masks, regardless of vaccination status, in the following indoor settings:
- On public transit (examples: airplanes, ships, ferries, trains, subways, buses, taxis, and ride-shares) and in transportation hubs (examples: airport, bus terminal, marina, train station, seaport or other port, subway station or any other area that provides transportation)
- Indoors in K-12 schools and at childcare centers
- Emergency shelters and cooling and heating centers
- Healthcare settings
- State and local correctional facilities and detention centers
- Homeless shelters
- Long term care settings and adult and senior care facilities
The Pasadena Public Health Department strongly recommends that businesses, worksites, venue operators or hosts follow CDPH guidance that provides options for reducing COVID-19 transmission risk including:
- Require all patrons to wear masks; OR
- Implement vaccine verification to determine whether people are required to wear a mask; OR
- Provide information to all patrons, guests and attendees regarding vaccination requirements and allow vaccinated people to self-attest that they are in compliance prior to entry.
Until COVID-19 cases reach the Moderate level of the CDC framework, which is expected by the end of March, businesses/operators are encouraged to take measures to protect employees and customers by implementing both vaccine verification and, for those who are not fully vaccinated, verification of a negative COVID-19 test (within 2 days if PCR and 1 day if antigen).
People who are ill with COVID-19 symptoms should wear a mask regardless of vaccination status, test and stay home. People are still required to mask, regardless of vaccination status, if they are within 10 days of symptom onset of a COVID-19 infection (or positive test if asymptomatic) or quarantining after exposure to COVID-19.
Fully vaccinated people are recommended to continue indoor masking when the risk of COVID-19 transmission or severe disease may be high. Well-fitted surgical masks or respirators, known as N95s, KN95s, KF94s, are highly recommended by the PPHD.
Up to date vaccinations (including booster doses when eligible) are highly recommended for everyone ages 5 years and older as the safe and effective way to protect against severe disease from COVID-19, including hospitalization and death.
In addition, the Pasadena Public Health Department strongly encourages people to continue to mask indoors and follow other common-sense COVID-19 safety strategies, such as staying home when sick; frequent hand-washing; and testing for COVID-19 when in contact with someone who has the virus or when experiencing any COVID-like symptoms.
The State’s Health Order continues to order masking indoors in K-12 schools and at childcare centers. Local health jurisdictions do not have the authority to relax that requirement.
For local COVID-19 resources including testing and vaccination locations, visit:
https://www.cityofpasadena.net/covid-19/.
CDC Guidelines: By By Soumya Karlamangla for the New York Times: With the Omicron variant in retreat across much of the country, federal officials on Friday inched toward a new pandemic normal by easing their guidelines for staying safe from the coronavirus.
Based on new criteria for measuring a community’s Covid-19 risk, officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that 70 percent of Americans could stop wearing masks, and would no longer need to social distance or avoid crowded indoor spaces.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, though, what this means for Californians is not that simple.
The federal guidance is merely a baseline upon which local rules are layered. In other words, even if C.D.C. officials say masks aren’t needed where you live, the mayor of your city might still prohibit you from going barefaced to the grocery store.
These rules can be confusing, so today I’m going to walk you through the latest federal, state and local recommendations and how they could apply to you.
Keep in mind that public health guidelines are always shifting, and that a major change to California’s school masking requirements is expected to be announced later today. (More on that below.)
The new federal guidance
Until last week, the C.D.C. had been calculating a community’s Covid-19 risk level based on numbers of new cases. But given that Omicron spreads easily but causes mostly mild illness, the new calculations rely more on the likelihood that hospitals could be overwhelmed.
With its overhauled metrics, the C.D.C. reduced the fraction of counties in the U.S. where it recommends indoor masking to 37 percent from 95 percent. (One exception: No matter where you live, masks are required on public transit and airplanes.)
These looser recommendations aren’t necessarily permanent, but an acknowledgment that our pandemic situation appears to be improving.
“We want to give people a break from things like masking when our levels are low, and then have the ability to reach for them again should things get worse in the future,” the C.D.C. director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, told reporters on Friday. “We need to be prepared, and we need to be ready for whatever comes next.”
In California, 30 of our 58 counties fall into that high-risk, mask-recommended category. Those include Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange and Fresno Counties.
So while you can always wear a mask if it makes you feel safer, the C.D.C. is saying that you definitely should wear a mask in these high-transmission areas, regardless of your vaccination status.
You can check your county’s risk level as determined by the C.D.C. here.
California’s masking law
If where you live is considered high risk, you don’t need to dive further into state and local regulations: Just keep that mask on.
But if your county is listed as medium or low risk, such as San Francisco and Ventura Counties, then you need to pay attention to the statewide rules.
California regulations require that if you’re unvaccinated, you have to wear a mask in indoor public spaces. And even if you have your shots, you must still mask up in certain settings, such as doctor’s offices, homeless shelters and prisons.
So let’s say that you’re not in a high-risk county and you have all of your shots. Can you go to the movies without a mask on?
Yes, unless your community has its own additional mask rules. (I warned you it was complicated.) Counties with mask ordinances include Santa Clara, Los Angeles and Mendocino.
The latest on school masking
That brings us, finally, to masking in schools, which has become a particularly contentious issue in California.
Just yesterday, 200 parents and children rallied in Golden Gate Park in opposition to California’s requirement that teachers and students wear masks indoors, The San Francisco Chronicle reported. In recent weeks, there have been protests in favor of masks, too.
But change is coming soon.
On Friday, the C.D.C. announced that it no longer endorsed masking in schools everywhere in the country, and instead only in counties deemed at high risk. Later today, California officials are expected to announce a timeline for relaxing their own school mask mandate.
“Masking requirements were never put in place to be there forever,” said Dr. Mark Ghaly, the state’s health and human services secretary, as reported by The Los Angeles Times.
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