Santa Cruz County To Lift Mask Mandate Feb. 16

SANTA CRUZ, CA — Santa Cruz County will join 10 other Bay Area counties in lifting its mask requirements for most indoor public settings starting Wednesday, Feb. 16, the county Health Services Agency announced Wednesday morning in a joint news release with other county health departments.

Santa Cruz County joins Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, Napa, San Benito, San Francisco, San Mateo, Solano, and Sonoma counties, in addition to the City of Berkeley, in lifting mask mandates Feb. 16.

In alignment with new California Department of Public Health guidelines announced Monday, vaccinated individuals will be able to remove masks in most indoor public settings and workplaces except hospitals and K-12 schools. Still, businesses, venue operators, and hosts may choose to require all patrons to wear masks.

While the new guidelines state that unvaccinated individuals over the age of 2 are still required to wear masks, Santa Cruz County does not have any rules mandating vaccine verification. Businesses may elect to require vaccine proof, but are not required to do so.

The move comes amid falling case rates in the county and across the state. In Santa Cruz County, case rates have declined to a 7-day average of 117 on February 7, far below the Jan. 20 high of 1,263 new cases a day, according to the county news release.

Still, county health officials are encouraging continued mask use. “We as a community know how we can prevent severe illness, hospitalizations and deaths,” Santa Cruz County Health Officer Dr. Gail Newel said in a statement. “We want people to continue to be cautious and layer their defenses through masking and other measures when the situation requires to protect family, friends and the community. Being vaccinated and boosted remains the best protection against future variants of the virus.”

Masks will still be required regardless of vaccination status in buses, the Santa Cruz County Jail, skilled nursing facilities, homeless shelters, childcare settings, and schools. The California Department of Public Health has indicated that adjustments to school masking policies may arrive in upcoming weeks.

Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration brought back the masking mandate in mid-December as omicron gained momentum and last month extended the requirement through Feb. 15. California passed 80,000 pandemic deaths and 8 million confirmed positive cases last week. Los Angeles, the epicenter of the state's surge, confirmed more than 100 daily COVID-19 deaths multiple times last week. Still, new cases, hospitalizations and ICU admissions all continued falling Monday and are projected to keep declining at a rapid clip.

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