SAN FRANCISCO — Seven Bay Area counties and one city are recommending that people fully vaccinated against the coronavirus start wearing masks again.
Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Sonoma counties, and the city of Berkeley are asking its residents to mask up again indoors because of the COVID-19 cases rising due to the "highly transmissible Delta variant."
According to the CDC, the Delta variant is responsible for nearly 60% of all new coronavirus infections in the U.S.
"The Delta variant is spreading quickly, and everyone should take action to protect themselves and others against this potentially deadly virus," Alameda County Health Officer Dr. Nicholas Moss said in a press release.
Yolo and Sacramento counties recently made the same suggestion to fully vaccinated residents. While these are just recommendations, Los Angeles County will again require masks indoors even when people are vaccinated. Meanwhile, the University of California system announced Thursday it will require coronavirus vaccinations for students, faculty and staff to return to campuses this fall.
The moves are prompted by a sharp increase in virus cases, many of them the highly transmissible delta variant that has proliferated since California fully reopened its economy on June 15. Los Angeles County has been recording more than 1,000 new cases each day for a week and the health officer says there is now “substantial community transmission.” On Thursday, there were 1,537 new cases, and hospitalizations have now topped 400.
READ MORE:
- CDC director: COVID in US becoming 'pandemic of the unvaccinated'
- Sacramento County recommends those fully vaccinated wear masks indoors
- LA County residents again ordered to wear masks indoors
- COVID cases surging in California a month after reopening
- Small California school districts will refuse to follow mask mandate
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