Amid declining rates, California mask mandate to expire
(NewsNation Now) — The state of California is poised to lift its indoor masking requirement for vaccinated people on Wednesday as the state sees declining COVID-19 case rates and hospitalization numbers.
Local jurisdictions can still opt for stricter rules, however.
As NewsNation local affiliate KTLA reports, Los Angeles County residents still have to keep masking up indoors — whether they’re vaccinated or not.
But elsewhere in the state, California’s indoor masking requirement will expire for vaccinated people on Tuesday. Face coverings will only be required for unvaccinated people in all indoor public settings.
Masks will be “strongly recommended” indoors, but not required, for those who are vaccinated.
There are a few places where people, regardless of their vaccination status, will need to mask up. These include on public transit, in hospitals, homeless shelters and other congregate living areas.
Schools are another place where people will still have to mask up indoors, at least until the end of the month. State officials have said they will reassess this on Feb.28 and make an announcement about it.
Other states have recently announced plans to end their mask mandate. New York and Rhode Island dropped theirs last week.
Some places are opting to stop the mandate a little later: Illinois’ mask mandate is set to end Feb.28, while Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said the state will not lift its mandate any later than March 31.