June 2, 2022 Updated: June 2, 2022 3:14 PM
In this archive photo, a masked pedestrian walks past a mural during a coronavirus outbreak in San Francisco.
Jeff Chiu / Associated Press
Last month, the Bay Area counties announced that they had chosen not to force masks inland amid the current increase in COVID-19 cases, citing a low number of hospitalizations, as well as the fact that the highly vaccinated region is well protected from serious disease and death.
On Thursday, Alameda County broke ratings with the implementation once again of an internal mask warrant “to limit the impact of the increase in COVID-19 cases on hospitalizations.” The mandate, which will take effect on June 3, applies to most indoor settings, except for K-12 schools and the city of Berkeley, which establishes its own health protocols. The state lifted its school mask mandate earlier this year.
There is no final date for the Alameda County term.
Earlier this week, the New York Times published an article entitled “Why Masks Work But Mandates Don’t” which questions the effectiveness of broad community-wide mandates.
“Evidence suggests that extensive mask mandates have not done much to reduce the burden of COVID cases over the past two years,” writes author David Leonard. “Today, mask rules can do even less than in the past, given the contagiousness of current versions of the virus. And successful public health campaigns rarely involve a divisive struggle over a measure that is unlikely to make a big deal. difference “.
Analysis of county data driven by the delta variant last summer, the last wave of COVID-19 in California in which counties had different masking policies, suggests that mask warrants they had little impact on case rates if county vaccination rates were similar.
Eric Ting is SFGATE’s policy editor. A native of East Bay, he holds a master’s degree in journalism from Stanford University. Eric graduated from Pomona College, where he graduated with a degree in politics and economics. Email: eric.ting@sfgate.com