(Bloomberg) --
Officials in the San Francisco area are recommending that residents wear masks again indoors in public places regardless of vaccination status.
A day earlier, Los Angeles took the stronger step of requiring masks indoors for everyone, as the delta variant pushes cases higher in California. That restriction takes effect on Saturday.
Seven Bay Area counties that also include the Silicon Valley area issued a joint statement on Friday announcing the stepped-up guidance.
“With cases of Covid-19 rising locally and increased circulation of the highly transmissible delta variant, the Counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Sonoma, and the City of Berkeley recommend that everyone, regardless of vaccination status, wear masks indoors in public places as an extra precautionary measure for those who are fully vaccinated, and to ensure easy verification that all unvaccinated people are masked in those settings,” according to the statement.
The counties said that they'll revisit the recommendation in the coming weeks as it monitors “transmission rates, hospitalizations, deaths, and increasing vaccination rates throughout the region.”
They noted that full vaccination provides protection against serious illness and “continues to be our best defense against severe Covid-19 infection, and the harm it can do to our region.”
“Vaccines are safe, effective, free, and widely available to everyone 12 and older,” the counties said.
©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
Essential Business Intelligence, Continuous LIVE TV, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
