Masks Return! Several Blue State Counties Urge N-95s in Grocery Stores and Restaurants for Covid

In several counties in California, wearing face masks indoors has been recommended, while in some areas the number of infections has even quadrupled.

Health officials in three Bay Area counties are urging residents to wear well-fitting masks, such as an N-95 or K-95 mask, in indoor public spaces like restaurants and grocery stores.

The health department in Contra Costa County, just outside San Francisco, said the recommendation comes after cases quadrupled between May 9 and July 9.

However, since then, the numbers have stagnated, wastewater data shows, and hospital admissions and deaths remain at historic lows.

Contra Costa, Marin and San Francisco counties all recommend wearing masks in public places like grocery stores and restaurants. However, this is only a recommendation and not a mandate.

The directive comes weeks after Violet Affleck, the 18-year-old daughter of actors Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner, called on Los Angeles County authorities to reinstate mandatory mask mandates and end all “mask bans.”

And it follows Dr. Anthony Fauci’s recent admission that strict measures early in the pandemic, such as closing schools and businesses, may have been too strict and had “potential negative side effects.”

Nearby San Francisco and Marin counties also recommend wearing masks in public spaces due to a steady increase in cases.

Contra Costa County Health Officer Dr. Ori Tzvieli said, “Masks are an effective tool to limit the spread of the virus, especially for people who are at risk for severe illness when there is evidence of increased COVID-19 activity in the community.”

“This is one of those moments. Our health care system is not currently experiencing serious impacts from COVID, and our goal is to keep it that way.”

Most Bay Area health authorities lifted their mask mandates in February 2022.

The new recommendation is not mandatory and depends on your personal preference.

There is no clear evidence as to whether masks actually prevented infections during the Covid pandemic.

A 2023 analysis of 78 studies and 1 million people found that face coverings made “little to no difference” to Covid infection or death rates.

California deaths and hospitalizations continue to decline, wastewater data shows

Meanwhile, the number of Covid cases in the US as a whole has continued to decline since November 2023

In Contra Costa County, mask requirements are only seasonal, from November 1 through April 30, to help limit the spread of Covid, influenza and RSV.

According to the most recent data available on July 29, 13 percent of the nearly 9,000 tests in the area were positive, up one percent from the previous week.

Contra Costa County Deputy Health Officer Dr. Sofe’ Mekuria told a local news station CROWN4 that the area is mainly affected by cases of the ‘FLiRT’ strains, a variant of Omikron responsible for most infections in the US.

Meanwhile, California’s death toll is at a historic low. In the week of July 29, only four deaths were reported, half the number of deaths during the same period last year.

Nationally, 304 COVID-related deaths were reported to the CDC in the same week, a 46 percent decrease from the same time last year. In early 2021, at the height of the pandemic, more than 26,000 deaths were reported to the CDC.

Doctor Mekuria noted that while the number of hospital admissions and deaths has remained the same, the vaccination rate in the area is declining.

“We expect a new COVID vaccine with newer strains of COVID that should be out this summer or early fall. Possibly as early as September,” she said.

These recommendations come after recent research suggested that masks may not be as effective as they were earlier in the pandemic.

For example, researchers from the University of East Anglia found in a May study that the protective effect of face masks appeared to have disappeared by February 2022, around the time California lifted its mask mandate.

The team suspected this was because the Omikron variant, which later mutated into FLiRT, was too contagious to be prevented with masks.

Contra Costa residents told KRON4 that despite the recommendations, few people were actually wearing masks.

“I see people with masks sometimes. There are only a few of them. Mostly older people,” said resident Connie Koplan.