Marin Lifts Some Mask Requirements

MARIN COUNTY, CA — A day after Marin’s top health official implied one of the nation’s most vaccinated counties might soon lift masking requirements, what had been widely speculated has become a reality.

Marin on Friday announced it will ease masking requirements in some indoor settings with no more than a 100 people at one time in which vaccination can be verified, such as gyms, offices, religious gatherings and college classes, county officials said Friday afternoon.

Facial coverings will still be required in indoor settings in which vaccination status is not verified, such as grocery stores.

The updated mask requirements closely mirror those San Francisco announced Thursday. The updated health orders in both counties go into effect Oct. 15.

“We’re not ready to lift the mandate across the board, but we’re in a good place to ease restrictions for the safest settings.” Marin Health Officer Dr. Matt Willis said in a statement Friday.

“Science shows that when an entire group is vaccinated, the risk of infection is much lower. Some settings have already adopted mandatory vaccination policies for all staff and customers, and this gives more incentive for others to follow suit.”

Willis on Thursday was among health officers representing nine Bay Area counties and the city of Berkeley issuing criteria for lifting mask mandates, and Marin’s top health of issued a statement amid the announcement in which he spoke of mask mandates in the past tense.

His statement foreshadowed Friday’s move.

"The mask requirement played an important role in gaining control the fourth wave," Marin Health Officer Dr. Matt Willis said in a statement.

"Still, our biggest asset is vaccinations. High vaccination rates will allow us to continue to ease restrictions safely, while providing greater protection for our community."

The numbers back up Willis’ assertion.

As of Friday, 92.1 percent of eligible Marin residents 12 years of age and older have completed their vaccine series and 98.0 percent of county residents have received at least one jab, according to the county's vaccination dashboard.

Marin tops the state with 76.7 percent of all residents (including those under 12) fully vaccinated, and the North Bay county ranks ninth in the nation among all counties (regardless of population), The New York Times reports.

Marin was the nation's most vaccinated county among those with a population over 250,000 according to data compiled earlier this year by The San Francisco Chronicle.

The revised order follows a new criteria for lifting the indoor mask requirement altogether.

Marin is now satisfying two of the three criteria and hopes to make progress toward the final metric over the coming weeks.

“Until that criteria is met, masks are still required in all other indoor public environments not outlined in the revised order,” county officials said in a statement.

To learn more about Marin’s current health orders and mask guidelines visit here.