Healdsburg Residents Must Wear Masks Inside; Latest COVID Stats

HEALDSBURG, CA — Healdsburg residents must wear a well-fitting face covering when entering indoor public settings, regardless of vaccination status, as of 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.

The mask mandate was jointly announced Monday by the City of Berkeley and Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Sonoma counties. Mask mandates were also reissued in Los Angeles, Sacramento and Yolo counties, while several other counties in the greater Bay Area recommended indoor mask use.

Bay Area residents have been able to go into most stores and other public venues mask-free since mid-June, when the state dramatically scaled back economic restrictions.

Public health officials reconsidered mask mandates as the highly transmissible delta variant surged in California and across the nation. The delta variant constituted more than eight in 10 COVID-19 cases sequenced by the state in July — an increase of 30 percentage points compared to June, recently released statistics showed.

Officials "are very concerned by the substantial levels of community transmission now found across the Bay Area, especially among unvaccinated people," health officers in affected areas said in a joint statement Monday.

Bay Area public health officials pleaded with unvaccinated residents to reconsider as inoculations still provide a 25-fold reduction of the risk of hospitalization or death compared to no vaccine, federal officials said last week.

Many elected and public health officials, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, dubbed the latest surge a "pandemic of the unvaccinated."

“We know that face coverings work to prevent the circulation of the virus, and with contagious variants spreading it has become clear that mask-wearing is again necessary,” said Sonoma County Health Officer Dr. Sundari Mase. “Masking and vaccinations are the most important tools we have to end the pandemic. The vaccine is safe, effective, free and widely available."

Recent information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also indicates that even fully vaccinated individuals can in some cases spread the Delta variant to others, and so indoor use of face coverings provides an important added layer of protection.

The new health orders require wearing a well-fitting mask indoors in public settings. Indoor settings, whether public or private, present a higher risk for COVID-19 transmission, especially when people are with people they live with. Health officials also recommend that all employers make face coverings available to individuals entering their businesses, and businesses are required to implement the indoor face-covering order.

Bay Area health officers said they will continue to monitor data, including increasing vaccination throughout the region, to determine when the orders can be adjusted or lifted.

"We encourage all residents to do their part in wearing their masks to keep themselves, their families and their community safe," Mase said.

In Healdsburg, 89.2 percent of residents 12 and older are vaccinated, 80.9 percent are fully vaccinated, 8.4 percent have received one dose and 10.8 percent are not vaccinated.

Healdsburg has seen 1,016 COVID-19 cases among residents since the beginning of the pandemic, including 42 active cases.

Sonoma County has seen a total of 32,880 cases, while variant cases countywide have dramatically risen in recent weeks, much like the rest of the state and nation. In Sonoma County, at least 242 delta variant cases had been reported as of Monday.

Last week Newsom warned that the state was eyeing "sobering projections" should current trends continue, including a significant increase in hospitalizations that could put pressure on health care systems across the state. Officials saw an increase in unvaccinated people who are admitted to the intensive care unit and die. COVID-19 case rates were 600 percent higher among unvaccinated Californians at that time.

"We must act now to protect ourselves, our loved ones and our community. If you are eligible to get a COVID-19 vaccine and have not yet done so, please do not wait any longer," said Dr. Chris Farnitano, Contra Costa's health officer, in the statement.

See also: Mask Mandate Renewed In 7 Bay Area Counties, City Of Berkeley

Patch editor Courtney Teague contributed to this report.