Here’s what mask mandate changes mean for state workers in Sacramento

The lifting of indoor mask requirements for vaccinated people will apply to California government offices, meaning most vaccinated state employees will no longer be required to wear masks at work after Feb. 15, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office confirmed Monday.

State employees remain subject to county rules, however. Sacramento County, where the majority of state employees work, announced it will follow the state’s lead in loosening mask rules for vaccinated people starting Feb. 16.

Los Angeles County plans to keep its indoor mask mandate, and it’s unclear what Bay Area counties will do, according to news reports.

Newsom’s administration instated the universal indoor mask order in December amid a spike in cases from the omicron variant of COVID-19. The Department of Public Health announced Monday it would allow the order to expire, citing a significant decline in cases.

State employees in prisons, health care settings and long-term care settings will still be required to wear masks, according to the Monday order.

Unvaccinated state employees will still be required to wear masks indoors, including in Sacramento County.

About 230,000 people work for California’s state government, including about 82,000 in Sacramento County, according to State Controller’s Office figures.

Newsom last year ordered state employees to get vaccinated or submit to regular COVID-19 testing at work.

About 76% of state workers were fully vaccinated — meaning they had received full vaccine doses but not necessarily boosters — as of the end of January, according to the most recent figures from the Department of Human Resources.

Among major departments, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection had the lowest vaccination rate at 51%, while the Public Health Department had the highest at 86%, according to the data.