Are masks still required in Sacramento? Here’s what officials say after new CDC guidance
Federal health officials on Thursday issued new recommendations saying Americans fully vaccinated for COVID-19 do not need to wear masks or practice social distancing in most indoor and outdoor settings, but state and local health officials in California as of Friday morning had not yet updated their mandates.
That means masks are still required in most indoor and shared public settings in Sacramento County, for now.
“We are aware of new CDC masking guidance and will continue to follow the State of California’s lead in giving us direction as to how California will implement the guidance,” county spokeswoman Janna Haynes said in an emailed statement. “Until that time, there are no changes in our County’s masking guidance.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office in a social media post late Thursday said the California Department of Public Health was continuing to review the new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDPH as of Friday morning had not announced any changes to its mask order.
Sacramento does not have its own county-level mask order. Within Sacramento County’s local health order for COVID-19, the mask requirement defers to the statewide requirement.
Other capital-area counties will also follow the state’s direction. Yolo County’s public health office, which made masks mandatory in April 2020 — nearly two months before California did so last June — eliminated the local mandate this March, while noting the statewide order is still in effect. The Yuba-Sutter bi-county health office did the same earlier this month.
Placer and El Dorado counties each ended their local COVID-19 health orders in 2020 and have therefore deferred to the state’s mandates and guidelines on masks, as well as other COVID-19 matters, for the past several months.
This story was originally published May 14, 2021 at 10:57 AM.
