By outdoor-nature-child.com As of November 1, multiple counties in the Bay Area will reinstate mask mandates for hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and other medical institutions. This decision comes as the region braces for the annual cold and flu season. Local health orders have been issued requiring masks in these settings from November 1, 2024, through March 31, 2025.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the primary goal of the renewed mask mandate is to reduce the transmission of influenza, COVID-19, and other respiratory viruses within healthcare environments during the winter virus season, which typically spans from late fall to early spring.
In most cases, the mask requirement will apply predominantly to healthcare workers, aligning with last year’s local health orders for the 2023-24 winter virus season. However, Santa Clara County and San Mateo County have expanded the mask requirements to include visitors and patients in medical facilities.
While many mandatory regulations from the pandemic era have waned, this mask mandate remains one of the few still enforced post-pandemic, albeit with specific limits in terms of duration and scope. Here’s a breakdown of the mask requirements across the Bay Area counties:
– **San Francisco** has yet to issue public health orders regarding mask-wearing for the winter respiratory season. Last year, they required healthcare workers to wear masks from November 1 to April 30.
– **Alameda County** issued a health order on September 26, mandating that healthcare workers wear masks from November 1 to March 31. This order applies to all healthcare organizations in Alameda County and the city of Berkeley, including hospitals, mental health facilities, skilled nursing facilities, dialysis centers, and infusion centers. Staff must wear masks when providing medical services in areas with hospitalized patients or residents, but it is not required for outpatient interactions.
– **Contra Costa County** also released a health order on September 26, requiring healthcare workers to wear masks from November 1 to March 31 in various healthcare settings, including hospitals, dialysis and infusion centers, chemotherapy centers, and skilled nursing facilities. Masks must be worn in enclosed areas where staff may come into contact with patients.
– In **Santa Clara County**, all personnel in healthcare settings—including staff, patients, and visitors—are required to wear masks in patient care areas from November 1 to March 31. Children under 2 years of age, as well as individuals for whom mask-wearing could lead to respiratory distress, are exempt.
– **San Mateo County** issued a health order on October 1 stating that staff at skilled nursing facilities must wear masks from November 1 through March 31 of the following year. Visitors are also required to wear masks, though hospitalized patients do not need to do so. Staff and visitors must wear masks in areas frequently accessed by patients, such as patient rooms, lobbies, hallways, waiting rooms, exam rooms, and elevators, while they are not required in administrative offices, gift shops, or cafeterias.
– **Napa County** similarly issued a health order on October 1 mandating that healthcare staff in inpatient settings, including hospitals and psychiatric facilities, as well as high-risk outpatient areas like dialysis and infusion centers, wear masks from November 1 to March 31.
– Counties such as **Marin**, **Sonoma**, and **Solano** do not plan to implement any mask-related health orders this year.