Mask mandates return in San Francisco Bay Area for health care facilities

Mask mandates are returning for a limited time during cold and flu season in the heart of deep-blue California’s San Francisco Bay Area.

With winter fast approaching, several Bay Area counties have recently issued health orders requiring that face masks be worn in hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and other healthcare settings beginning on Nov. 1 and extending through either March 31 or April 30, 2025, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

The new mandates were put into effect to prevent the spread of the flu, COVID and other seasonal illnesses.

The requirements only apply to healthcare workers except in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, which also require visitors to put on masks.

Santa Clara is also requiring that patients mask up, according to the outlet.

Localities that have issued health orders include Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, San Mateo and Napa counties. 

Healthcare facilities that must abide by the orders include hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, dialysis centers and infusion centers.

Santa Clara County will exempt children under age 2 and people with medical conditions for whom wearing a mask could obstruct breathing or who are unconscious, incapacitated or otherwise unable to remove a mask without assistance. 

Though far less restrictive than pandemic-era COVID mandates, the masking requirements still invited opposition from critics.

“Mask mandates are making a comeback in California,” said Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., who faces a challenge from Democrat Jessica Morse. “My opponent, a Newsom staffer, supports toddler masking. America’s leading masker of 2-year-olds, Xavier Becerra, is plotting a run for governor. We must elect the right people to assure history doesn’t repeat itself.” 

The masking orders are similar to health orders issued during last year’s cold and flu season. 

In January, several New York City public hospitals joined healthcare facilities in states across the country in reinstating mask mandates in response to a spike in COVID-19 cases and influenza infections. 

The mandates were lifted once flu season ended.