California Lifts State’s COVID Mandates on Healthcare Facilities and Providers

Effective immediately, California has lifted all government-imposed COVID-19 protocols, including wearing masks for medical professionals, enabling local management to enforce their own regulations.

According to the California Department of Public Health, Californians may not have to wear masks inside any medical facilities, even in high-risk areas, nursing homes, locations that serve people experiencing homelessness, and correctional facilities based on their latest guidelines.

CDPH initially announced the updated COVID-19 guidelines in March 2023. According to the new regulations, healthcare personnel are no longer required to receive vaccinations if they choose not to.

Dr. Tomás Aragón, CDPH Director and State Public Health Officer, stated, “We stand before Californians today with a humble message of thanks for taking the hard steps to help manage COVID-19, and with an ongoing commitment to be prepared for what comes next”

California was the first state in the United States to mandate masks when the pandemic first broke out in March 2020.

Gov. Gavin Newsom declared in a statement at the time, “The State of California is deploying every level of government to help identify cases and slow the spread of this coronavirus; this emergency proclamation will help the state further prepare our communities and our health care system in the event it spreads more broadly.”

Newsom immediately imposed a stay-at-home order that lasted several months, closing all businesses and in-person classes, and enforcing mask mandates.

Many Californians protested against Newsom’s orders, and especially parents who were against the school mask mandate. Despite this, medical professionals such as Dr. Larry Kociolek stressed the need for masks in schools to protect children from COVID-19.

Newsom announced the end of the prior COVID-19 state of emergency in October of last year. “The State of Emergency was an effective and necessary tool that we utilized to protect our state, and we wouldn’t have gotten to this point without it,” Newsom said in a statement. “With the operational preparedness that we’ve built up and the measures that we’ll continue to employ moving forward, California is ready to phase out this.”