Danville Mask Rules Latest: State Mandate Returns

DANVILLE, CA — All Danville residents must wear masks indoors for at least the next month, regardless of vaccination status, under a new statewide mask mandate that kicked in Wednesday ahead of Christmas and the new year.

Contra Costa County already had its own rules about indoor mask use, but the new order applies statewide. County health departments were welcome to establish even stricter rules.

Masks must be worn in all indoor public spaces through Jan. 15 as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations surged post-Thanksgiving, the California Department of Public Health said.

Contra Costa County allows fully vaccinated people to remove masks indoors in areas not open to the public such as offices, gyms, indoor college classes or organized gatherings such as religious gatherings.

"The limited exceptions we made are for very low-risk scenarios where everyone is vaccinated," said Health Officer Dr. Chris Farnitano in a statement Wednesday. "Our community already understands and is following these rules and it would be confusing to change them for just one month."

The state health department also issued a travel advisory Monday to recommend that all travelers receive a COVID-19 test three to five days after their arrival in California.

Officials updated requirements for events with 1,000 or more attendees to require guests to show proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID-19 test.

The steps came as state health officials eyed an uptick in COVID-19-related cases and hospitalizations as the highly transmissible delta variant continued to spread. Just 39 cases of the recently identified omicron variant were confirmed in California as of Monday, but officials were also concerned about that variant’s high level of transmissibility.

Since Thanksgiving, California’s seven-day average case rate increased by 47 percent, and hospitalizations increased by 14 percent as of Monday.

"Our collective actions can save lives this holiday season,” said Dr. Tomás J. Aragón, state health department director and public health officer, in a statement. “We are already seeing a higher level of transmission this winter and it is important to act now to prevent overwhelming our busy hospitals so we can provide quality health care to all Californians.”

Health officials continued to stress the importance of vaccination. Unvaccinated Californians were seven times more likely to get COVID-19, 12.5 times more likely to be hospitalized from COVID-19 and 13 times more likely to die after infection, according to statistics released Tuesday.

Nearly eight in 10 Californians age 5 or older have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Prior to the most recent state mask mandate, the state required mask use in the following spaces.

• K-12 schools, child care facilities and other places for youth.
• Public transit.
• Health care facilities.
• Adult care facilities and those for older people.
• Correctional facilities and detention centers.
• Homeless shelters, emergency shelters and cooling centers.

The state did not indicate when it will lift mask requirements in these spaces after the temporary mask mandate expires.

See also:

• CA's Indoor Mask Mandate Returns As COVID-19 Cases Surge
• Q&A On California Public Health Department Mask Order