As California lowers its masks, uncertainty remains

To mask or not to mask? That is the question — and there are a lot of answers.

California on March 1 lifted its rule requiring unvaccinated people to wear masks in most indoor settings, but still strongly recommended that everyone wear masks indoors while in public. After fully two years of self-imposed isolation and masking, many people were delighted with the move.

The general view, backed by data, is that the COVID-19 pandemic is waning, but people aren’t really sure, given the past, roller-coaster history of spiking infections followed by sharp declines.

The state also announced that mandatory masking would not be required as of March 12 at schools and child-care facilities.

In San Francisco, rules were eased that required businesses, including bars, gyms and restaurants, to get proof of vaccination before serving customers. That rule was scrapped, at least in large part, because many businesses weren’t doing it anyway and enforcement was dicey.

At the state level, masking “will be strongly recommended for all individuals in most indoor settings. Employers must still provide a face covering upon request of an employee,” the governor’s office noted in a Feb. 28 press release.

The state also announced that mandatory masking would not be required as of March 12 at schools and child-care facilities.

But it’s up to the locals to decide whether to follow that guideline. Click here to navigate to the state’s county-by-county coronavirus tracking page, and the Centers for Disease Control have put together a risk-assessment tool for every county in the country.

For example, the largest school district in California and the second-largest in the country, Los Angeles Unified, says it intends to keep its mask requirement in place. On March 4, L.A. County lifted its order requiring indoor masking.

The administration said the plan is meant to make sure the state is prepared for the next variant without having to close any businesses or severely straining our hospital capacity.

Through March 16, California has reported more than 9 million coronavirus infections, while during the past two weeks the infection rate has declined by 52 percent. Some 89,000 deaths were reported, but during the same period that rate declined by 33 percent.

In recent weeks, Gov. Newsom has done away with some of the executive orders he signed earlier in the pandemic to deal with surge in new cases and the spread of the disease. He has chosen to adopt a new policy called SMARTER, which stands for Shots, Masks, Awareness, Readiness, Testing, Education and Rx. During a press conference describing the plan, Newsom said that this is a step towards “turning the page, moving from this crisis mentality, moving from a reactive framework to … living with this virus.”

The administration said the plan is meant to make sure the state is prepared for the next variant without having to close any businesses or severely straining our hospital capacity.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky noted how masks had become the “scarlett letter” of the pandemic and that they reminded us that we’re still in the middle of one.

That variant, known as the Omicron subvariant, already is taking hold in Europe, and some experts believe a new wave may hit the U.S. Further contributing to their concern, the CDC confirmed that wastewater samples across the county are showing an increase in the presence of COVID-19 compared to prior weeks. That uncertainty has prompted many in California to continue masking, regardless of the state or local guidelines that ease the rules.

In a media appearance last month, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky noted how masks had become the “scarlett letter” of the pandemic and that they reminded us that we’re still in the middle of one.

Governments, local and state, seem to view masks in that same light, lifting some mask mandates and choosing to frame the future of the fight against COVID-19 as an epidemic.

These policies, followed by the receding Omicron wave that infected more people than any before it, are a shift from the focus of containing the virus to learning to live with it.

“Keeping mandates in place that aren’t followed just erodes the credibility the public has in our ability to make good, sound decisions.” — Janice Hahn

Many California counties decided to follow the state’s lead and lift their own mandates as well.

Santa Clara County, which had been among the most aggressive counties in California combating COVID-19, removed its indoor masking rule on March 1.

Even Los Angeles County, which has had some of the strictest mask rules in the country, dropped its just-announced plan – it allowed businesses to choose whether to have their fully vaccinated customers and workers masked — in favor of completely dropping the mandate for everyone.

This reversal came after two of the five members of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors spoke out against the county’s mandate after the recent Super Bowl in Inglewood, where there were many people violating the rules.

“Keeping mandates in place that aren’t followed just erodes the credibility the public has in our ability to make good, sound decisions” said Supervisor Janice Hahn in a tweet after the big game.

“Local school districts (should) continue to work with educators and families and to act cautiously while prioritizing the safety of students, educators, and their families.” — E. Toby Boyd

The school mask mandate has recently been the focus of much debate between parents worried for their children’s safety and those pushing for a return to normalcy. Many school districts decided to defy the state’s orders and loosen their mask policies earlier than expected.

This despite a recent poll by the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley that found nearly two-thirds of Californians support keeping masks for the remainder of the school year.

California Teachers Association President E. Toby Boyd noted that reactions to the state’s school masking policy were mixed but also urged “local school districts to continue to work with educators and families and to act cautiously while prioritizing the safety of students, educators, and their families.”

In a statement to Fox 11 the teachers’ union in L.A., who have an agreement with the district to keep their mandate in place through the rest of the school year, said, “It is premature to discuss removing these health and safety measures while there are still many unvaccinated youth in our early education programs and schools.”

Since then, the union has begun to survey their members over the issue while starting negotiations with the district over the mandate’s future, according to the LA Times. The public seems to agree with the union with 71% of respondents in Los Angeles County supporting the continuation of school mask mandates, according to the same IGS-UC Berkeley poll.

Although pretty much every county no longer has indoor or outdoor mask mandates, there are still places where the state will continue to require masks. These includes congregate facilities like healthcare settings, long-term care settings, jails, prisons, public transit, homeless shelters, and emergency shelters.

Beyond that, the state strongly recommends masks in other public indoor settings and schools.

Mark Ghaly, the California Secretary of Health and Human Services, explained that this strong recommendation is meant to take into account the fact that, despite the wide uptake in vaccines, there are still many people at risk– including young children, those with compromised immune systems or disabilities, older adults, and those with multiple chronic health conditions.
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Editor’s Note: Joshua Aalcides is a Capitol Weekly intern from UC Davis.