Indoor Mask Mandate Lifted In Santa Clara County

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA — Santa Clara County will become the final Bay Area county to lift its indoor masking requirement on Wednesday.

Santa Clara County was the only Bay Area county to not follow the state's lifting of its indoor masking mandate for vaccinated people on Feb. 16, instead choosing to wait until it met the last of three specific metrics: the seven-day average remaining at 550 or lower for a week.

The county will now shift to strongly recommending that the public continue to wear masks in all indoor public spaces.

Public Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody said that while there is still community transmission of COVID-19, "at some point" the county has to transition to a recommendation and that it "feels safe enough" to shift.

The other two metrics — at least 80 percent of the county population vaccinated and COVID-19 hospitalizations at a "low and stable" number — were met last week, county officials said.

"Preventing infection is still a worthy goal," Cody said. "For each of us individually, it is still important to wear a mask when indoors."