Indoor Masks Are A Must In Santa Cruz County As COVID-19 Spreads

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, CA — Masks must be worn indoors in Santa Cruz County, regardless of vaccination status, the county announced Thursday.

The policy takes effect at 11:59 p.m. Friday and will lapse when the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention determines COVID-19 transmission rates have subsided to the moderate level in Santa Cruz County. Currently, Santa Cruz County's transmission rate is considered to be high — two steps above moderate on a four-step scale.

The announcement came as the highly transmissible delta variant of the coronavirus continued to surge in Santa Cruz County and across the nation.

Just over a week ago, the county reported its first COVID-19 deaths in two months. Both of the people were unvaccinated.

“While vaccination remains the best and most effective tool in preventing COVID-19, the Delta variant spreads quickly among the unvaccinated and may even be passed between vaccinated persons, although their symptoms are usually mild," Santa Cruz County Health Officer Gail Newel said in a Thursday afternoon statement. "Face coverings will provide added protection until everyone is able to be vaccinated, especially children.”

Businesses and government groups must require staff to mask up, the county said. They must also post signs stating the requirement at entrances.

Masks need not be worn if a person is alone in a closed room or office or is eating, drinking, swimming, showering at a fitness center or receiving medical or cosmetic services, the county said.

Newel said at a news conference last week that the county was open to reinstating a mask mandate but wasn't eager to move forward with one, though her counterparts in neighboring Bay Area counties opted to do so. Santa Cruz County instead decided to issue a recommendation.

At the time, Newel said she believed the majority of residents in Santa Cruz County "are doing the right thing" to protect the community and their families and she didn't want to deal with the "distraction" of enforcing a potential mask mandate.

It's not totally clear whether data showed mask mandates make a difference, though Los Angeles County believed its mandate helped stabilize hospital admissions, she said last week. The same people who don't wear masks indoors now probably wouldn't wear masks if a mandate were issued, Newel said.

The county remains concerned that there are not enough teenagers and eligible adults getting vaccinated, though officials have seen some progress, county spokesperson Jason Hoppin said in an email Thursday.

That "also seems to be a population that is less likely to wear a mask," he wrote. "Overall, most people are wearing masks while in public. We now need to make sure everyone does."

Officials hope the order is only in effect for a brief window of time, Hoppin said.