Mask requirement:

All lawmakers and employees must wear masks at the state Capitol in the wake of an outbreak of nine coronavirus cases there.

California has reinstated a mask mandate for all lawmakers and employees at the state Capitol, regardless of vaccination status, following an outbreak of nine coronavirus cases there.

All nine people who contracted the coronavirus are legislative staffers, four of whom were fully vaccinated.

Effective immediately, people are required to wear a mask at all times while in the Capitol, Legislative Office Building and district offices, Secretary of the Senate Erika Contreras and Assembly Chief Administrative Officer Debra Gravert wrote in memos Tuesday.

Unvaccinated legislators and employees are also required to be tested for the coronavirus twice a week, beginning Thursday. Contreras urged vaccinated lawmakers and employees to be tested voluntarily.

Rare “breakthrough” infections can occur in fully vaccinated people, but public health experts believe they are less likely to lead to more serious COVID19 outcomes, including hospitalization and death. California has confirmed just 8,699 coronavirus infections among the more than 20 million people vaccinated in the state.

The outbreak at the Capitol comes less than a month after the state dropped most pandemic restrictions on June 15 and the building fully reopened its doors to the public.

While masks have been required in public spaces inside the Capitol throughout the pandemic, fully vaccinated lawmakers and staff had been allowed to remove their masks in their offices.

The revised rule for masking was recommended by the California Department of Public Health after the new infections were reported last week. At least seven of the nine people infected at the Capitol work in the same office, Gravert said.

The employees are following quarantine recommendations, according to state officials, who did not disclose the conditions of those who were infected.

California’s overall test positivity rate is on the rise, with the sevenday average moving up to 1.9% on Wednesday from 0.6% just a week ago. About 51% of the state’s population is fully vaccinated.

Last week, Democratic state Sen. Scott Wiener of San Francisco called for mandatory vaccinations for state lawmakers.

“All public employees — including all employees of the Legislature — should be mandated to get a COVID vaccine, absent a medical reason,” he tweeted. “Public employees not getting vaccinated puts others at risk & undermines government’s ability to serve the public. It’s not acceptable.”