Mask mandates return to health care facilities in state dark blue

Mask mandates return for a limited time during cold and flu season to the heart of California's deep blue San Francisco Bay Area.

With winter quickly approaching, several Bay Area counties recently issued health orders requiring the wearing of face masks in hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and other health care facilities, effective November 1 through March 31 or April 30, 2025. The San Francisco Chronicle reported on the matter “..

The new mandates went into effect to prevent the spread of flu, Covid-19 and other seasonal diseases. The requirements apply only to health care workers, with the exception of Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, which also require visitors to wear masks. Santa Clara also requires patients to wear masks, according to the facility.

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Localities that have issued health orders include Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, San Mateo and Napa counties.

Health care facilities that must comply with the orders include hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, dialysis centers and infusion centers.

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Santa Clara County will exempt children under 2 years of age and people who have a medical condition that might make it difficult for them to breathe if wearing a mask, or who are unconscious, incapacitated or otherwise unable to remove the mask without assistance.

While the masking requirements are much less restrictive than pandemic-era masking requirements, they still face opposition from critics.

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Visitors view exhibits at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, California, Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021. (Nina Riggio/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)

“The mask mandate is back in California,” said Rep. Kevin Kiley, D-Calif., who faces a challenge from Democrat Jessica Morse. “My opponent, a Newsom staffer, supports masking young children. Xavier Becerra, America's leading masker of two-year-olds, plans to run for governor. We need to choose the right people so that history doesn't repeat itself.”

The masking orders are similar to health orders issued during last year's cold and flu season.

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In January, several public hospitals in New York joined health care facilities in states across the country in reinstating mask mandates in response to a surge in Covid-19 cases and flu infections.

The mandates were lifted after the flu season ended.