Everything you need to know about California reopening
LOS ANGELES –
Today marks a new era for California: The state at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday rescinded most mask rules for vaccinated people and ended capacity limitations on businesses and venues.
Here’s a rundown of what changed today and in the days to come.
For the general population, fully vaccinated people are no longer required by the state to wear masks in most public settings, such as stores, restaurants, gyms, movie theaters and family entertainment centers – bowling alleys, arcades, trampoline parks, ice skating rinks and the like.
A person is considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving their second dose of the PfizerBiontech or Moderna vaccines, or two weeks after receiving their only dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Among the businesses that will put up signs allowing vaccinated customers to enter without a mask Tuesday is Ralphs and Food 4
Less, a spokesman for the supermarkets’ parent company, Kroger, said.
Unvaccinated people are still required to mask up, according to the latest order by the California Department of Public Health.
People who are always exempt from mask rules include babies younger than 2; people with a medical reason, mental health condition or disability that prevents wearing a mask; and people who are hearing impaired or communicating with someone who is hearing impaired because the ability to see the mouth is essential for communication.
Under an order issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, everyone still has to wear masks on public transit, such as airports, airplanes, subway stations, trains and buses.
The CDC will soon allow people to stop wearing masks in outdoor areas associated with public transportation, but the agency will still recommend unvaccinated people mask up.
In California, masks are still required for everyone in healthcare settings, prisons and jails, shelters, cooling centers and in indoor settings of K-12 schools and child-care settings.
Mask rules in effect at a workplace are regulated by the state’s occupational safety authority, not the state Department of Public Health.
As a result, it may be later this week before fully vaccinated workers are allowed to remove their masks in the workplace and for physical distancing requirements to be rescinded. The state’s Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board is expected to vote on a proposal Thursday.
Officials originally suggested that even if the board votes to approve the measure, the earliest the new rules would become effective is June 28, a result of the standard 10 days of review by the Office of Administrative Law.
But on Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom said that if the board approves the new rules, he planned to issue an executive order that would make the rules effective immediately.
Under the proposed rules, unvaccinated workers would still need to wear masks in indoor workplaces. Some of the only exceptions to the mask-wearing rule is unvaccinated workers who are alone in a room or are eating or drinking, in which case they should keep at least 6 feet apart from other people.
Unvaccinated workers might become eligible for N95 masks
Under the same proposal being considered by the state safety standards board, California would require employers to provide respirators – such as N95 masks that filter out tiny particles from the air – to employees not yet fully vaccinated if workers request them.
N95s are far more plentiful now than they were in the early months of the pandemic.
Most businesses and venues are not obligated by the state to check customers’ vaccination status.
As a result, businesses can choose to allow an unmasked customer to enter a store, and the fact that the customer is unmasked is effectively a “self-attestation” that the person is vaccinated.
Businesses also have the option of implementing some kind of vaccine verification system to determine whether the customer needs to wear a mask. They can also require all patrons to wear a mask.
For indoor events with more than 5,000 people – such as a
Lakers or Warriors game or a convention – all attendees must submit documentation of their status as being fully vaccinated or a pre-entry negative coronavirus test to enter.
Proof of full vaccination includes a vaccination card, a printed copy of it, a photo of it stored on a phone or documentation from a healthcare provider.