Is mask mandate ending on June 15?

Gov. Newsom sparks confusion with seemingly contradictory remarks

Are the mask rules that Californians have been required to follow for nearly a year about to be scrapped?

In the span of 24 hours, Gov. Gavin Newsom caused confusion over the issue, appearing to tell a TV reporter in Los Angeles that indoor mask rules would be dropped after June 15, the date he plans to end California’s colored COVID-19 tiers system that has limited how businesses and other activities can be run during the pandemic. But then in Monterey County on Wednesday afternoon, Newsom said he wanted to “clarify” the issue and seemed to walk his remarks back.

On Tuesday, Elex Michaelson, coanchor of FOX 11 News in Los Angeles, asked Newsom in an interview, “Are we looking at masks after June 15?”

“No,” Newsom said, “only in those settings that are indoor — only in those massively large settings where people from around the world, not just around the country, are convening and where people are mixing in real dense spaces. Otherwise, we’ll make guidance, recommendations, but no mandates, and no mandates and no restrictions on businesses large and small.”

The COVID tier system, which assigns counties purple, red, orange or yellow status based on COVID-19 case trends, is called the Blueprint for a Safer Economy.

Newsom added in the Tuesday interview: “We are going to move beyond the blueprint, on the 15th of June, so just in a number of weeks. And that world looks a lot like the world we entered into before the pandemic. We’re not wearing face coverings. We’re not restricted in any way, shape or form from doing the old things we used to do, save huge, large-scale indoor convention events like that where we will use our common sense.”

A day later, while in Monterey County to tout his proposed education budget, Newsom said he wanted to clarify his remarks.

“June 15, a number of weeks away, we’ll move beyond the blueprint and we’ll be in a completely different space,” Newsom said. “Now I want to clarify in that context that we will be updating our mask guidelines. Outdoor masking, if we reach that threshold where we hope to be, we’ll be substantially — in fact, we’ll be eliminating those man

dates. There’ll be guidelines and recommendations. But for indoor activities, we will still have likely some mask guidelines and mandates. But we hope sooner than later that those will be lifted as well.”

Asked to help the public understand what the governor meant, Ali Bay, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Public Health, said in an email: “We will continue to update face coverings guidance as appropriate, with the goal of continuing to loosen restrictions as more people get vaccinated. Californians

should continue to follow the state’s current face coverings guidance.”

Those rules, updated May 3, say fully vaccinated people are not required to wear face coverings outdoors except when attending crowded outdoor events, like live concerts, parades, fairs, festivals or sports events. For people who are not vaccinated, face coverings are required outdoors any time physical distancing cannot be maintained.

In indoor settings outside of a person’s home, including public transportation, face coverings are required regardless of vaccination status.

The issue is gaining increasing relevance as California’s

COVID-19 case numbers continue to fall. The state has seen a 96% drop in daily COVID-19 cases since the peak in January, and a more than 90% drop in daily hospitalizations and deaths as millions have been vaccinated. On Wednesday, 65.6% of all California adults 18 and older were vaccinated, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, a number that continues to grow at nearly 1% a day, despite some slowing.

California has required masks indoors in restaurants, stores, schools and other settings since June 18.

As of Wednesday, 25 states still require masks. Of the other 25, 14 have dropped mask mandates

and 11 never had them.

California’s latest confusion comes amid a recall election in which Newsom is campaigning to project a return to normalcy. And it comes after the federal government’s top COVID-19 expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said the CDC may relax its indoor mask guidance soon. On Sunday during a CNN interview, Fauci was asked whether it’s time to start relaxing indoor mask requirements as vaccination rates continue to increase.

“I think so,” Fauci said, “and I think you’re going to probably be seeing that as we go along, and as more people get vaccinated.”