San Diego County won’t reinstate mask warrants as COVID-19 cases rise

photo by KPBS staff

Above: A sign in Del Mar is displayed advising the public to ‘stop the spread’ by wearing a mask, December 25, 2020.

While some counties in the state require masks indoors regardless of COVID-19 vaccination status, San Diego County public health officials announced Monday that they will continue to follow the guidelines. State, which require masking indoors for unvaccinated people and masking everyone in certain settings.

“COVID-19 is now the pandemic of the unvaccinated,” said Dr Wilma Wooten, county public health official. “Get vaccinated now, especially as cases and hospitalizations increase.”

RELATED: San Diego Doctor Applauds State Vaccination Order

The county’s statement follows an announcement Monday by Gov. Gavin Newsom requiring all state employees and workers in hospitals and healthcare facilities in California to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination. Those who cannot or refuse to do so should be tested at least once a week.

The vaccine verification program for the approximately 246,000 state employees and for all healthcare workers will be implemented over the next few weeks, with compliance expected by August 23. It will apply to all state health facilities – public and private.

The policy does not respond to a vaccine “mandate”, offering employees the option to undergo regular COVID testing instead of providing proof of vaccination. These workers will need to be tested at least once a week, or even twice a week.

The state, however, has still not imposed a renewed mandate for everyone to wear masks indoors.

County health officials have said San Diegans who feel uncomfortable around others should wear a mask if they choose.

“Even though I am fully vaccinated, I still wear a mask in public,” said Dr Eric McDonald, county medical officer. “People should take whatever precautions they want to avoid contracting and spreading COVID-19, especially if they are living with someone who cannot get a vaccine or who is immunocompromised.”

RELATED: California To Require Vaccine or Testing for State Employees

According to state officials, nearly 3,000 people were hospitalized with COVID on Monday, up from around 900 on May 15. The average daily rate of new cases is now 9.6 per 100,000 people, down from 1.9 per 100,000 on May 15.

State officials noted that the daily infection rate among unvaccinated residents is believed to be over 14 per 100,000, compared to about 2 per 100,000 among the vaccinated population. This equates to unvaccinated residents infected at about seven times the rate of those vaccinated.

Locally, 98% of hospitalizations in the last 30 days are in people who are not vaccinated or have not completed the full series of the two-dose vaccine. About 150,000 San Diegans are only partially vaccinated and overdue for their second injection.

“One dose of the vaccine does not give you sufficient immunity to avoid contracting COVID-19, especially the Delta variant,” Wooten said. “Getting the two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine gives you the best protection against all of the variants of COVID-19 that are currently circulating. “

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2,044 more COVID-19 cases and 55 hospitalizations were reported from Friday to Sunday in the county. The number of community homes is now 27 after 12 more were confirmed in the past three days.

To increase access to COVID-19 vaccines, the county now operates the Great Eight, a set of geographically distributed toll-free vaccination sites that allow people to choose one of three vaccines available in the United States, Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson. & Johnson. For a list of locations and more information, visit coronavirus-sd.com/vaccine.

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