Health officer issues a mask mandate

Santa Cruz County Health Officer Dr. Gail Newel on Friday issued a health order requiring individuals to wear face coverings when indoors regardless of vaccination status effective 11:59 p.m. Sunday citing increased COVID-19 cases and increased hospitalizations moving into the holidays and winter months.

“Unfortunately, a potential winter surge appears to be a significant threat to the health and safetyof our community,” Newel said in a prepared release.

Masks must be worn in private settings, including your home, when non-household members arepresent, according to the release.

To help assure compliance, all businesses and governmental entities must require employees to wear masks and post signage that is clearly visible and easy-to-read at all entry points for indoor settings informing the public of the mask requirement.

Those working in a closed room or office alone or with members of their household do not have to wear a mask, and masks are not required during indoor activities where they cannot be worn safely such as eating, drinking, swimming, showering in a fitness facility, or obtaining medical or cosmetic services.

Santa Cruz County removed its prior indoor mask mandate on Sept. 29 after putting it in place on Aug. 20 because of an increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations due to the delta variant.

The Monterey County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday suspended an ordinance requiring people to wear masks while indoors countywide after Supervisor Mary Adams flipped her vote citing untrustworthy federal health data.

The mandate went into effect Nov. 5 after being passed by supervisors Sept. 28.

Monterey County Health Officer Dr. Edward Moreno decided against following the lead of Santa Cruz and other nearby counties in implementing an indoor mask mandate during the delta spike, saying he had already instituted an indoors masking recommendation.