Bay Area health officials require but do not require face masks due to the proliferation of COVID cases – Times Herald

Health officials in the Bay Area urged residents to wear face masks in public indoors on Friday as COVID-19 infections caused by highly contagious viral variants spread throughout the region.

“If you recently chose not to wear a mask in an indoor public place, now is a good time to resume,” said Dr. George Han, deputy health officer at the Santa Clara County Public Health Department. I am. “Highly contagious subvariants are spreading here. Adding a protective layer, like a high-quality mask, reduces your risk to yourself and your chances of infecting others.”

Health officials from the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, Napa, San Benito, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and Sonoma and the city of Berkeley participated in Friday’s petition for further precautions. It also included advising residents to get a vaccine booster if they were eligible.

The The bay area has emerged as a national hotspot An increasing number of cases caused by cousins ​​of the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which caused a large wave of infection last winter. However, although hospitalizations have increased, they remain manageable and health authorities are due to the high immunization rates in the area.

However, Dr. Nicholas Moss, Alameda County Health Officer, said the Bay Area had the highest number of cases in California, at levels similar to last summer’s Delta Variant Surge, and detected an unreported infection at home. He said the number was probably high because it was done.

“Daily reported cases in Alameda County have reached the levels seen during delta waves,” Moss said. “Fortunately, cases are well below what was observed during the Omicron surge, and hospitalizations have shown only a slight increase so far. With a little care, that condition can be maintained. increase.”

A variant of Omicron first appeared in the United States in December, but its version, known as BA.1, is now a subversion known as BA.2, which is 56% of cases nationwide, and is now BA. It has been replaced by .2.12.1. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 43%.

The counties of San Francisco, Santa Clara, Alameda, San Mateo, Marin, Sonoma, and Santa Cruz have become the yellow “medium” layer of the CDC at the COVID-19 community level. This indicates that cases are beginning to put pressure on the health system and people at high risk of severe illness should consider wearing masks based on CDC guidelines, but Bay Area health officials Mask recommendations go a step further.

In San Francisco, hospitalizations are on the rise, but relatively low compared to previous surges and within the capabilities of the hospital system, said health officer Dr. Susan Philip.

Nationally, 14% of the counties are at their medium-sized community level, 4% are at high levels, and masks are recommended for all indoors in public. These high community-level counties are concentrated in the Northeast, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.

All states that had face mask requirements across the state, including California, removed them by April. California has also lifted school mask requirements, and several schools around the Bay Area have reported clusters of COVID-19 cases among students after spring holidays and proms.

The requirement to wear a mask on public transport such as aircraft, buses and trains has been overturned by the judge. But locally, the Bay Area high-speed transportation system still needs them.

San Jose revived Mask’s mission to city officials last week. Oakland has never withdrawn a similar mission, as most other cities have done.

Bay Area health officials say masking is strongly recommended by the California Public Health Service in most public indoor environments, although it is not required. “It’s a wise choice to help people protect their health.”

“Currently, people are at increased risk of getting COVID-19 and are encouraging people to take personal protection against the virus,” says Philip.