Marin County's mask mandate, with some exceptions, is back.
The California Department of Public Health on Tuesday granted the county an exemption to the new statewide mask mandate, asking Marin officials to require masks again in the vast majority of public indoor spaces over a month after the county became the first in the Bay Area to lift its own mandate after meeting a set of criteria established in October.
Marin County Public Information Officer Laine Hendricks told KCBS Radio in an email on Wednesday that masks will not be required in some settings, like gyms, offices, religious gatherings and college classes, provided everyone is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, there are no more than 100 people present and the space isn’t open to the general public.
"However, many Marin County residents will not interact with these settings, thus they will not experience this exemption," Hendricks said.
Dr. Matt Willis, the county health officer, told KCBS Radio late last month that reimplementing the mask mandate was “on the table” depending upon the omicron variant’s spread. Fearing a potential surge in cases due to the strain, California officials announced a new statewide mandate on Monday.
After fully vaccinating over 80% of its residents, keeping hospitalizations low and maintaining a "moderate" rate of COVID-19 spread as defined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Marin County lifted its mask mandate entirely early last month. Alameda, Contra Costa and San Francisco counties implemented limited exemptions over the last two months, all of which remained in place on Wednesday following clarification from the state a day prior.
Marin, seven other Bay Area counties and the City of Berkeley implemented a public indoor mask mandate for all residents this summer, regardless of vaccination status, as the delta variant spread became the dominant strain in the U.S. California’s current mask mandate will run from Wednesday until at least Jan. 15.
Related
