7 Bay Area Counties To Reinstate Indoor Mask Mandate After Midnight

After an increase in COVID-19 transmission in the San Francisco Bay area, local health officials announced Monday that seven counties in the region would revert to a mask mandate for indoor public settings that takes effect for everyone after midnight, regardless of vaccination status.

“The order, announced at a joint news conference, goes into effect at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, … affects more than 7 million residents,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The outlet reported, “Health officers for seven of the nine counties in the region – Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Sonoma –and the city of Berkeley, which has its own health department, brought back the restriction.”

“Indoor masking is a temporary measure that will help us deal with the Delta variant, which is causing a sharp increase in cases, and we know increases in hospitalizations and deaths will follow,” said Dr. Naveena Bobba, San Francisco Acting Health Officer. “When we all wear face coverings indoors, we are protecting our fellow residents and helping our healthcare workers.”

Businesses are required to comply with the updated mandates.- READ MORE