Mask Back Up: San Mateo Co. Health Officer Discusses New Mandate

SAN MATEO COUNTY, CA — A week after mandating masks inside county-operated facilities, San Mateo County expanded the order Monday to all indoor public settings in conjunction with most of the Bay Area’s counties.

Scott Morrow, the county’s health officer, said in a news release that the objective was to protect the community against a rise in cases due to the Delta variant but not to interrupt any businesses.

“As San Mateo County joins its neighbors in issuing these orders, the goal is to avoid disrupting businesses and residents’ everyday activities,” Morrow said. “We want our communities to stay open while being as safe as possible.”

Seven Bay Area counties and the city of Berkeley on Monday reinstated indoor mask mandates following news of spiking COVID-19 cases among both unvaccinated and vaccinated residents, driven by the highly transmissible delta variant.

Regardless of vaccination status, residents must mask up indoors in public settings, starting at midnight Tuesday. Face coverings will be required in places such as retail stores and restaurants with limited exceptions in the following counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Sonoma.

The news comes less than a week after the California Department of Public Health formally recommended on Wednesday that state residents resume wearing face coverings indoors, regardless of their vaccination status. More than 90 percent of the state's population lives in areas with substantial or high transmission rates, department officials said.

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

Patch editor Kat Schuster contributed to this report.