“Mask Mandates Are Coming Back to the Bay Area,” Hospitals, Skilled Nursing Facilities and Other Health Care Facilities
October 11th, 2024Via: San Francisco Chronicle:
Masks are coming back to the Bay Area — for a limited time.
As the annual cold and flu season gears up, several Bay Area counties have recently issued local health orders requiring face masks to be worn in hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and other health care facilities starting Nov. 1 until either March 31 or April 30, 2025.
The orders are aimed at reducing the spread of flu, COVID and other respiratory viruses in medical settings during the winter virus season that typically spans late fall to early spring.
For the most part, the orders apply to health care workers only and echo similar local health orders announced last year for the 2023-24 winter virus season. But two local jurisdictions, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, are also extending the requirement to visitors — and Santa Clara County is also asking patients to mask up.
