Areas In San Francisco Exempt From California Indoor Mask Mandate

Areas in San Francisco, California, will not be under the state’s new mask mandate for indoor spaces, which took effect on Wednesday and applies to people who are vaccinated or unvaccinated. 

As NPR reported, the “San Francisco Department of Public Health said Tuesday the city will continue to allow those who are fully vaccinated to remove their masks in gyms and workplaces, even as the state’s reinstated mandate requires masks to be worn indoors, regardless of vaccination status.”

In a tweet, the San Francisco Department of Health noted, “[The California Department of Public Health] has further refined its indoor masking requirements since Monday. This means that stable cohorts of 100% fully vaccinated people in settings like workspaces and gyms will continue to be allowed to remove masks.”

It added, “Other aspects of the City’s health order requiring indoor masking in most indoor public settings remain in effect,” concluding in a final tweet, “This refinement acknowledges the hard work of the people of San Francisco throughout the pandemic, including the ways in which we have maintained reasonable protections heading into the holiday season.”

UPDATE: @CAPublicHealth has further refined its indoor masking requirements since Monday. This means that stable cohorts of 100% fully vaccinated people in settings like workspaces and gyms will continue to be allowed to remove masks. (1/3)

— SFDPH (@SF_DPH) December 15, 2021

According to the city’s website, 86% of residents have gotten at least one dose of the vaccine, with 80% of residents having completed their vaccination series. Over 90% of residents 65 years of age and older have completed their vaccination series. 

“It’s a recognition of all of the thought and care that San Francisco residents have been putting into staying as safe as possible,” said Dr. Susan Philip, San Francisco’s health officer, per The Associated Press. 

As Fox 5 San Diego reported: 

The state will also toughen the restriction for unvaccinated people who attend indoor “mega-events” of 1,000 people or more, requiring them to receive a negative COVID test within one day of the event if it’s a rapid antigen test or within two days for a PCR test. The current rules require a test within 72 hours of the event. 

State officials will also recommend, but not require, that people who travel to California or return to the state after traveling be tested for COVID within three to five days.

As The Daily Wire reported, California was set to reimpose an indoor mask mandate on Wednesday in an apparent response to the Omicron coronavirus variant. 

According to the state’s website: 

Due to a recent increase in cases, CDPH has mandated that everyone in California wear a mask in indoor public spaces. The order is in effect December 15, 2021 to January 15, 2022.

Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom’s administration announced the new measure on Monday. At the time, The San Francisco Chronicle reported that as of Friday, there had been 18 Omicron variant cases reported in California. The Chronicle has since reported there have been additional cases found of the variant. 

“This is a critical time,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly at the time, “where have a tool we know has worked and can work. We are proactively putting this tool of universal indoor masking in place to ensure we get through a time of joy and hope without a darker cloud of despair. Californians have done this before, and we believe we can do it again.”

“We know that there’s going to be people who don’t necessarily agree with this, who are tired, who aren’t going to mask,” Ghaly noted. “We hope that those are few and far between, that most people see the purpose of doing this over the next month as something to protect them and their communities during a very tough time.” 

California has not had a statewide indoor mask mandate for vaccinated people for some time, as counties have decided their own policies. 

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