California Reopens: Where Do I Have To Still Wear A Mask?
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- At the stroke of midnight Tuesday the majority of the lifestyle restrictions put into place to stem the deadly tide of the COVID-19 pandemic were lifted, but there was confusion over those that remain.
The majority of the questions seem to center on wearing masks. For what activities can a fully vaccinated person finally ditch wearing a face covering.
Here's list from state health officials where masks will still be required, but there is a caveat -- businesses and local health officials can add their own requirements.
- On public transportation -- BART, Muni, AC Transit, San Francisco Bay ferries, Cal Train, Capitol Corridor trains and Golden Gate Transit including their transportation hubs and stations
- On airplanes and in airports
- Indoors in K-12 schools, child care and other youth settings.
- Long-term care facilities, homeless shelters, emergency shelters and cooling centers during this week's heat wave
- In the workplace for now.
- Unvaccinated people must wear masks in all indoor public settings, including businesses, retail stores, theaters, restaurants and state and government offices.
Officially, masks are still required in the workplace for all employees according to Cal-OSHA guidelines. State regulators are expected to revise those workplace rules, requiring only unvaccinated workers to wear a mask, but won't vote on the changes until Thursday.
"Businesses are eager to get back to normal. They want to get back to doing business pre-pandemic. And again, if there are mask requirements, all they're looking for is what are those requirements so we know what to expect," said Mark Turner, CEO of the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce.
On BART, station agents and transit police officers will continue to pass out masks to commuters.
"From the very start of the pandemic BART has taken an educational perspective on enforcement rather than being heavy handed," system spokesman Jim Allison told KPIX 5. "So we want to tell our riders hey listen you need to have a mask to come in here. And if we see someone without a mask, our station agents, our BART police officers has masks and will ask someone to either put on a mask or give them a mask."
