Most Bay Area counties have fallen in line with the state by letting their indoor mask mandate expire on Wednesday.
People in San Francisco, San Mateo, Alameda, Sonoma, Solano, Napa, Contra Costa and Marin counties, as well as the city of Berkeley, are no longer required to wear a mask at indoor, public spaces. The only Bay Area county not to follow suit is Santa Clara County, where everyone, regardless of vaccination status, must continue to wear face coverings indoors.
Masks continue to be required in all Bay Area counties on public transportation, health care setting, K-12 schools, long-term care facilities, jails and prisons. San Francisco continues to require masks inside government buildings, including City Hall. Individual businesses may continue to mandate masks indoors for all workers and patrons.
Despite the newly relaxed rules, Dr. Abraar Karan, infectious disease doctor at Stanford University, told KCBS Radio he advises Bay Area residents "take a little bit of precaution right now" and wait before letting their masks down indoors.
"We still are averaging about 20,000 new cases in California daily. With such high incidents, when you reopen, especially high risk indoor places, you do have a chance that you're going to see a bump in cases again," he said. "I would probably wait out for a few more weeks until cases come down."
He also still recommended people wear good quality masks, such as N-95s or KN-95s, and avoid using cloth masks for "at least a few more weeks."
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