Contra Costa bans indoor worship services, tightens face mask rules
New orders come as rate of positive coronavirus tests exceeds 8 percent
As the rate of positive coronavirus test results rises in Contra Costa County, health officials have issued new rules, including barring indoor worship services and requiring outdoor diners to wear masks at all times except when eating or drinking.
Indoor worship services would be temporarily banned starting late Sunday, officials from Contra Costa Health Services announced Saturday afternoon.
Outdoor worship services or cultural ceremonies will continue to be allowed, along with social protests, with no limit on size, as long as people keep distance between them and wear face masks.
Outdoor dining is still allowed, but staff and customers have to wear face masks or coverings at all times “except when putting food
and drink in the mouth,” the county’s announcement said. Indoor dining remains banned.
People who gather with extended family or friends have to also where face masks, and those gatherings should be outside, the health order said.
The new restrictions come as 8.04% of coronavirus tests administered over
the past week came up positive — a sign, health officials say, that the virus is spreading rapidly and could lead to overwhelmed health care systems.
When Contra Costa County received permission from the state to reopen
some activities in June, the plan called for reviewing the reopening of those categories if the positive testing rate hit 8%.
Other indicators are showing an increased spread of the virus. The seven-day average number
of recorded new cases rose from 38 on June 8 to 146 on July 8, and the average number of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 rose from 17 to 54 over the same period.
Of the 209 beds in intensive care units around the county, slightly more than half are full on a given day, the county’s announcement said. County health officials are worried that with increased COVID-19 hospitalizations, space and resources to tend to patients could run out.