In five of seven Bay Area counties, all but Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, California has granted exemptions to some churches, gyms and other businesses, allowing them to avoide the renewed state mandate requiring masks in all indoor public settings.
Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, Alameda, and Sonoma counties said their rules won't change, despite the month long statewide mandate that went into effect Wednesday morning.
The previous mandate was lifted Nov. 1. But rising case numbers statewide and the looming threat of the new Omicron variant prompted the state to again require masks in most public places, at least until Jan. 15.
“The limited exceptions we made are for very low-risk scenarios where everyone is vaccinated,” Dr. Chris Farnitano, health officer for Contra Costa County, said in a statement. “Our community already understands and is following these rules and it would be confusing to change them for just one month.”
Those scenarios include office settings, commuter vehicles, religious gatherings, and college classes where certain criteria are met. Those present must be fully vaccinated, there should be no more than 100 people present, the site shouldn't be open to the general public, and the host or organization must have a list of people present.
The host must also provide visible signage prohibiting entry to those with COVID-19 symptoms, and no one present should have symptoms or have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 for the past 14 days.
Since Thanksgiving, the seven-day average case rate in California has increased 47 percent, and hospitalizations have gone up 14 percent. State officials say holidays bring more risk, with more people traveling and staying indoors.
“Given the current hospital census, which is at or over capacity, even a moderate surge in cases and hospitalizations could materially impact California's health care delivery system within certain regions of the state,” says the state's new guidance, issued Monday. “Other states and countries with similar vaccination rates that have relaxed masking requirements are seeing surges in COVID-19 cases and increasing stress in their health care systems.”
Though early research suggests the severity of the Omicron variant may be milder than the current dominant Delta strain, researchers also say it spreads easier. For more information on COVID-19 in California, people can go to https://covid19.ca.gov/.
CA?, NY? = Permanent Pandemic Panic Pushers…
————— Freedom Vs Oppression… ——————
Common sense comes slowly to some Dems…
(13Dec2021)- CO Gov J. Polis (D) says:
No More Mask Mandates – Emergencies do Not Last Forever.
———— FL Gov Calls BS on states bringing back Mask Mandates (13Dec2021)——-
“Well, what are we on, like day, 700 of the 15 days to slow the spread?”
DeSantis said.
“The fact of the matter is, I think we’ve learned, you give these people an inch, they will never let go, they are going to take a mile,
they are going to restrict,
they’re going to mandate,
they’re going to lock you down.
And we cannot accept that.
Obviously, in Florida, we do not accept it.
So there’s no reason to be restricting or mandating anybody throughout our country.”
……..
“And the fact that this is still going on in these blue states,
and may even intensify over the coming weeks and months,
it just shows you if you value your freedom in 2022,
if you’re in those states,
you need to make your voice heard and you got to do a change of direction because I fear that they’re going to continue to do this until they suffer at the ballot box,”
DeSantis added.
People Die
Get over it
I am going back to a normal life
‘“And the fact that this is still going on in these blue states,
and may even intensify over the coming weeks and months,
it just shows you if you value your freedom in 2022,
if you’re in those states,
you need to make your voice heard and you got to do a change of direction because I fear that they’re going to continue to do this until they suffer at the ballot box,”
DeSantis added.’
And Florida had 4x-5x the number of covid deaths per capita than California during the delta wave.
Does this mean I have to start washing my hands again?
@Dhogaza, Thanks for emphasizing the Value of Freedom… many small business owners (or should I say former small business owners now bankrupt) and the working class they employ have suffered under the oppressive lockdowns.
Maybe dumb donnie lemons can spin case rates, death rates to meet the narrative, but like the seasonal flu or any other number of transmissible virus diseases, they spread in waves throughout the World, Country and Regions.
So maybe the ‘delta’ wave hit FL earlier, and CA’s wave came later but the overall results clearly show the overall impact of oppressive policies has caused more suffering in CA.
Cherry picking one week of cases, hospitalizations or deaths to compare does not make a sound ‘Case’.
Even as of today (Dec 20)…
Sources report Avg Daily COVID-19 deaths & COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 over the last 7 days as:
Florida: Deaths per 100,000: 0.13 / Daily average deaths: 27.7
California: Deaths per 100,000: 0.16 / Daily average deaths: 64.3
————
There are more Factors to consider besides “Case Rates”…
Like impact on small business, unemployment, mental health, suicide, drug overdoses, delayed chronic disease diagnosis & health care…etc..
—————
“CA and FL have similar Covid cases and deaths per 100,000 population: 119 vs. 135 and 8,621 vs. 8,370, respectively.
Despite FL having a significantly higher at-risk, elderly (65+ years old) population than CA,
16.5% vs. 14.8%,
CA actually experienced more nursing home deaths per 100 residents than FL: 2 vs. 1.”
“The Major Difference between FL and CA?
Unemployment:
FL’s rate is 6.1% while
CA’s is a whopping 9%.”
—————
“In CA, nearly 40,000 small businesses had CLOSED by September 2020, according to Yelp data analyzed by the New York Times.”
Stop giving them the power. Just start saying no to the mandates, they can’t stop us all.