Because of the downward trend on COVID-19 transmission, Santa Cruz County has lifted the mask mandate – being the first in California to do so.
The mask mandate was lifted by Santa Cruz County health officials on Wednesday, as announced through a press release following its record of moderate levels of transmissions.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that moderate levels of transmission mean 10 to 50 cases per 100,000 individuals and five to eight percent positive tests.
The CDC said that the county has logged 121 virus cases and deaths lower than ten over the past week. The number shows a decrease of over 75 percent, Lookout Santa Cruz said.
Apart from Santa Cruz County, five other counties in the Bay Area have recorded the said metric. Also classified to be under moderate levels of transmission are the counties of Alameda, San Mateo and Sonoma, among others. This means that the mask mandate can also be lifted in these counties, similar to what Santa Cruz made.
High levels of transmission, meanwhile, are still being experienced in more than 3, 000 counties.
While the mask mandate was lifted in Santa Cruz, wearing masks is still urged among the public. State requirements also retain the masking mandate for unvaccinated individuals, as well as in schools, hospitals and elderly living centers, SFGATE reported.
The COVID-19’s delta variant was detected among all the last five virus deaths in Santa Cruz. All of the cases were also unvaccinated.
