Health officer rescinds more restrictive October Risk Reduction Order
Uploaded: Tue, May 18, 2021, 1:51 pm 2
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People dine outside at Eureka! on Castro Street in Mountain View on April 5, 2021. Photo by Magali Gauthier.
Santa Clara County officials happily announced Tuesday that the county will move to the state s yellow tier on Wednesday, the least-restrictive level for reopening during the pandemic. The county will also rescind its October Risk Reduction Order, which put additional limits on businesses to protect employees and the public. We have a clear path out of this pandemic, county Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody said during a noon press conference in San Jose on Tuesday. For the first time, I feel optimistic. For a while, it seemed uncertain to me whether the vaccines or the variants would win. And now it looks like Team Vaccine will come out on top, she said.
Our case rate now is a third of what it was less than a month ago, our positivity rate is 0.5 percent, which is the lowest that we ve ever recorded, Cody said. So, for the first time in a long time, I feel optimistic.
The new health order will take effect on Thursday, a day after the county moves into the least-restrictive yellow tier in the state s COVID-19 reopening guidelines. The big change from now is two things: lifting the remote worker policy and businesses no longer need to do and post social distancing protocols, Cody said.
The new county health order allows all businesses to resume in-person operations with some guidelines: it requires employers determine and report to the county s public health department the vaccination status of their employees within 14 days of resuming in-person operations; defines safety rules for employees who remain unvaccinated; and continues to require that workplaces in schools report to the county when there is a COVID case.
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Californians fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can go mask-free in most indoor settings starting June 15 which also is the target date for reopening the state’s economy, officials announced Monday. The June 15 change will bring the state into alignment with recently released guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Federal health officials said last week that available evidence demonstrated it was safe for fully vaccinated people to go without masks in most places, whether outdoors or inside.
That was only a recommendation, though, and the final call was largely left to state and local governments one exception being public transportation, such as airplanes, airports, trains and buses.
Despite New CDC Guidelines, LA Asks People to Keep Wearing Masks
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Last Thursday, the US Centers For Disease Control and Prevention announced that fully vaccinated Americans can stop wearing masks and no longer worry about social distancing. In Los Angeles, county officials are still reviewing whether to ditch face coverings. But for now, masks are still required if entering any LA County business or a crowded indoor area.
The California Department of Public Health and LA County officials are reviewing the federal guidelines, but have not issued any changes since the CDC’s announcement. It’s a technical issue really, as California counties cannot make changes until the state does so first.