Marin Readies To Loosen Mask Requirements

MARIN COUNTY, CA — Fully vaccinated Marin residents soon will no longer be required to mask up in some indoor settings.

The county last week announced the loosening of indoor mask requirements in settings with no more than a 100 people at a time in which vaccination status can be verified, such as gyms, offices, religious gatherings and college classes.

The updated mask requirements closely mirror those San Francisco announced last week.

The new rules go into effect Friday in both counties.

"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 last week.”

"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."

Marin’s announcement that it will loosen mask rules followed Willis joining health officers representing nine Bay Area counties and the city of Berkeley in a joint announcement in which three criteria for lifting mask mandates were issued.

Counties are required to reach the yellow tier for moderate transmission, as established by the CDC, have low and stable COVID-19-related hospitalizations and have 80 percent of the population fully vaccinated.

Marin hit the first benchmark Tuesday, when it became the state’s first county to advance to the yellow tier.

Medical experts have expressed mixed views on Marin and San Francisco loosening mask requirements, The San Francisco Chronicle reports.

UCSF infectious disease expert Peter Chin-Hong gave the move a thumbs up, telling the news outlet: “If anyone can do it, these two counties can.”

UC Berkeley infectious disease expert John Swartzberg argues that with the virus still circulation amid the delta-fueled surge, it’s too soon to loosen mask requirements.

“Masks work in preventing transmission and they are not that arduous,” he told The Chronicle.